Off We Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder
by RougeBaron
Summary: 20 years after Zoids CC-GF , the Helic Republic and the Guardian Force were in a state of constant skirmishes. New, young cadets joined the Republic military to fight the Guardian Force, oblivious to a secret plan far more sinister than just domination of Planet Zi. And when Van, Irvine, and the old-time Guardian Forces resurfaced, the situation turned into a total chaos...
1. Prologue - Dream High

**- - - OFF WE GO INTO THE WILD BLUE YONDER - - -**

**a Zoids story by RougeBaron**

* * *

**Summary**: This is my 4th or 5th shot at Zoids fanfic but my first that follows Battle Story closely (the rest were just Blitz Team extravaganza). This story takes places between Guardian Force and New Century circa ZAC 2120. I don't know precisely the time frame of Chaotic Century in terms of ZAC years, but from Zoids wikia I know that CC runs approximately ZAC 2099. That is the only fact I can find, and that's what used here.

Circa ZAC 2120, many things changed. The Helic Republic and the Guylos Empire were in a very fragile truce. The dynamic of politics of the Helic Republic had changed so much that it didn't consider the Guardian Force as a peace-keeping unit anymore. In fact, the Guardian Force was seen as a nuissance inside Helic Republic that had overstayed its welcome. I modeled this situation after the Middle East circa AD 1300 where the Christians and the Moslems were in a very fragile truce, and the Knight's Templar - although rich and blessed by the Church - was not seen as the defenders of God anymore. The Knight's Templar was eventually dissolved and its members massacred. Will the Guardian Force be dissolved and its members killed in this story? I can't tell you yet...

The main character is Saskia, an ordinary girl with no clear destiny in the future trying to fulfill her dream and find her place in the society. The life of Saskia is loosely based on HC Andersen's "The Ugly Duckling" with a good dose of politics, betrayal, backstabbing, and zoids ripping each other's head off. Chaotic Century's characters (Van, Fiona, Irvine, Moonbay, Rob Herman) will appear as supporting characters, although they are significantly older than they are at the last episode of Guardian Force.

In this story I use zoids as appeared in Battle Story, with some zoids from Chaotic Century. I also stay away from organoids and Ultimate-X. It's an integral part of Zoids universe, but I don't really like it when the good guys get all the cool toys. I'd prefer to have everybody starts at zero then build his/her way up. There's also one more reason why I don't use organoids or Ultimate-X that I will reveal at the end, because if I reveal it now, then there's no point reading this story.

All being said, I hope you have a general idea of the flow of this story. I hope you enjoy it.

One more thing: this story is illustrated at deviantArt. I wish there is some kind of link between fanfiction and deviantArt so I can link each chapter here with the illustration at deviantArt. But anyway, if you're interested in seeing my artworks for this story, you can visit my Zoids gallery at deviantArt:

roguebaron . deviantart .com (/)gallery(/)42298710 - remove the spaces and the brackets first.

There are not much in there right now but I will add more artworks as the story goes.

_Zoids_ and all its components are copyright of Takara, Tomy, and Hasbro. All rights reserved.

* * *

**PROLOGUE**

**DREAM HIGH**

**_New Helic City,  
_****_Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
_****_Planet Zi,  
_****_October 31, ZAC 2110_**

Saskia wondered how it would like to have wings.

The blue sky was crystal clear, showing nothing but a flock of wild zoids in migration from the arctic north to the warmer south. Yet it hid so much mistery for 7-year-old Saskia. _Why can they fly and we can't?_ The wild zoids just spread their wings, barely moving, but there seemed to have a propulsion system of some sort. They glided far in the air in soft yellowish gleam that the young girl never came to understand. _What is that thing that makes them fly? Why don't we have it? If we can have it, where can we get it? _

The sky was always the ultimate attraction for the young brunette. She spent the better part of her free time just lying on the ground, watching wild zoids passing through the skyscrapers of Helic City, or watching the clouds turned from one absurd shape to another. And as her imagination played at the back of her mind, she started questioning why she, and millions other Zoidians, seemed to be the only living organisms that couldn't take off to the air.

_What would it feel like to fly high above Helic City and look down on buildings?_

Saskia's daily daydreaming was cut short by a slender figure blocking the sun. The shadow quickly moved from right above her head to behind a tall building, faster than the little girl could track. Curious, Saskia rose to her feet, trying to catch a glimpse of the shadow, but it had disappeared as if playing hide-and-seek with her.

But Saskia didn't have to wait long. The shadow turned back in the shape of a large flying zoid, with two massive legs and wide wings in place of arms. A wide grin sprung on Saskia's lips as she recognized the metal beast as her father's _Pteras_. The large zoid zipped close to the ground, blowing a strong gale that made her hair dance in the air. It took a quick barrel-roll that stopped her heartbeat for a second, then glided over to her before making a gentle touchdown just a few dozen yards away from where she stood.

"Papa!" she chimed, greeting the man climbing out of the cockpit.

Of course, Saskia might inherit the affinity for the sky from her father. A respectable lieutenant in the Helic Military, her father introduced her to flying since she was born, buying her a regimen of flying zoid toys for her to fly with, reading stories of old Republic heroes who took up the sky to bomb the Guylos Empire, and putting her in his shoulder so she could spread her arms and fly. The only thing he hadn't given her was the chance of going into a real flight in a real zoid.

"Hello, cupcake!" the middle-aged lieutenant picked her up and buried his face on her lush dark hair. "Look what I bring home today!" He put her down and pulled up a zoid model from behind his jumpsuit. "Do you know what it is?"

Saskia's eyes widened like a pair of marbles. She knew what it was. She had all flying zoid models in her collection, all but one. And although she respected the _Pteras_ as her personal favorite, she knew that the _Salamander_ was the prince of the air. The bulky model felt heavy in her small hands, but it was the least of her concern. At last, her collection was completed. At last, she had the mighty _Salamander_ in her hands.

"_Salamander!_ _Salamander!_" Saskia jumped around, then held the toy as high as she could, dreaming that the zoid model was actually flying. She made the whirring sound as she started running down the street with the model high up in the air, suspended by her arm. She even forgot to thank her father for bringing so much joy. She just wanted to fly with the _Salamander_.

"Saskia! Wait! Don't get too far!" her father yelled, trying to keep her checked, but Saskia was too caught up in her imagination to care. She ran as far as her little legs could carry her, looking up at her model and whistled in awe as the sun ray peeked from between the _Salamander's_ wing structures.

But she should've listened to her father. Next time she knew, she was standing in front of four large boys, clearly two or three years her senior. She knew them. They were troubled orphans that roamed the streets of New Helic City, singling out wandering, defenseless child like herself. It was not the first time Saskia had an unpleasant encounter with them, and by the look on their face, she knew the day would turn very, very sour for her.

"What'dya get there, sunbeam?" the stockiest, burliest one croaked. "Fanciment, are we?"

That was Burgman. Built like a warthog. Spoke like an idiot. He was quick on the trigger, but nobody knew what he was saying. Something in his head wasn't wired right. Words on the street said he was hit by his father, or his mother, or his uncle… or maybe they hit him for being weird.

"I don't like flyers!" the smallest one added. "I hate flyers! I hate'em! I hate them all!"

Saskia knew she was in deep trouble when she saw this one. He was Versys, a sole survivor of a nasty flying crash. His entire family was killed when their plane malfunctioned mid air. As a result, he developed a total abhorrence for flying object, including the one she was holding. _Especially_ the one she was holding.

"What do you know? Rich girl just got a new toy again!" the tallest one snarled. "What are you gonna do with that thing? Fly yourself out around the block? Huh?"

That one was the leader, Falco, a very big kid. His low voice was a hint that he was at least twice her age. He scared her the most. Burgman was brawny, Versys was nasty, and the other one never really did anything if Falco didn't make him. Falco was always the one that initiated the malice. Nothing much was known about him except he was a brilliant young man with very bad attitude.

"Get the toy, Falco!" Versys shouted.

"Yea! Stompin' up her ass to get it in the 'smore!" Burgman added.

"Let's show the rich girl that this street belongs to the Black Knights! Boys, get her!"

"NO!" Saskia turned around but the other kid got her. His name was Dakota. Saskia never actually heard him speak since he only followed Falco's command like a slave and nothing else. He grabbed her hand and pulled it behind her back. Burgman jumped and tried to pry the _Salamander_ off her hand. Saskia screamed and writhed and hung on to her toy with all her might, but 3 boys were just too much. Burgman pulled the _Salamander_ off her hand and tossed it to Falco. The crisp clattering sound pierced Saskia's ears like a sword.

"You hate this thing, Versys?" Falco kicked to toy toward Versys. "Show me!"

Wasting no time, Versys stomped the toy. Pieces of fiberglass burst into the air. But it only made him more excited. He trampled it again, and again, and again, until what was left was just shards and pieces of blue-white plastics and fiberglass.

"Hey! Get your hands off her!" Saskia's father arrived at the scene, just in time for her, but way too late for her precious toy. He grabbed some pebbles and empty soda cans from the street and hurled it at the boys. "Get your hands off her!"

"Run!" Falco yelled before bolted and disappeared around a corner. The other kids followed her.

"Bastards! Did they hurt you?" the Helic lieutenant dropped and pulled Saskia into his embrace. "Sorry about the toy, kiddo."

She sank her face into her father's chest and let it go. She didn't want to look at her toy. She wouldn't dare. It might be just a toy for the bullies but it was so much more than that for her. It was her magic amulet, her gate to her dream that someday she would fly. And it was way more than just a toy because _Salamander_ was the prince of the air. She wanted to rule the air with the prince, and that toy was the closest thing to believe that it would happen one day.

But now it was gone.


	2. Chapter 1 - New Seed

**ONE**

**NEW SEED**

* * *

**Review Corner**: _Yowzah_, the great **randomcat23** reviewed this story! Thank you very much randomcat, I really appreciate the interest. I hope I don't disappoint you along the road. There are not a lot of things going on in this chapter too, but I have to set up the background before I shell out the good stuffs. So please bear with me. Next chapter should start kicking ass.

* * *

_**New Helic City,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**August 3, ZAC 2120**_

"I have to go now, Father."

Saskia never wanted to go. For the past 3 years, watching the sky from the cemetery, leaning against her father's gravestone, had been her daily pastime. The rear part of the simple granite headstone had been partially sanded off, a testament of how often Saskia's back and shoulder chaffed against it. To its left and right lied hundreds of similar headstones in perfect box pattern. The monotone but serene atmosphere that was her home would soon be her past, and it brought more sorrow to her wounded heart.

Three years ago Saskia's father took part in a border skirmish against the Guardian Force. A Helic convoy was besieged by overwhelming Guardian Force zoids. Saskia's father led a squadron to break through the siege, and he tore the Guardian Force formation wide enough and long enough for the Helic convoy to escape. But when the _Pteras_ squadron retreated, somebody sniped her father. His _Pteras_ plummeted to the ground at near supersonic speed. No one could have survived that kind of crash.

Saskia didn't understand it. Why would the Guardian Force turn to Helic Republic? Her father used to read her bedtime stories about the Guardian Force beating the evil ancient Zoidian that wanted to destroy humanity, and about a Guardian Force pilot by the name of Van Flyheight that destroyed the nigh indestructible _Death Saurer_. It was an epic adventure told from generations to generations about a fellowship of true heroes. That was the Guardian Force that she always knew, and that was the Guardian Force that she always believed in…

… until it took her father away from her.

"I will not go far, Father. I'm just around the corner, with the Helic military. Don't worry about me. I'll be in good hands. Remember Captain Diavel, your friend and your wingman? He's Major Diavel now, and he's the Commanding Officer of the Air Division of Helic Military. He will keep an eye for me, like he kept an eye for you."

Saskia felt that her monologue was a bit superfluous. Her father was aware of her long-life affinity to the sky, and he knew that one day Saskia would end up in the same department as he was. Saskia never wanted to be anything else than a zoid pilot, and he knew her father was proud of her, although he never encouraged her to take his path. Being a military pilot was not something any father would want his daughter to be. But in Saskia's case, it was inevitable.

That fact made her even brokenhearted. She always imagined how proud her father could have been, watching her soaring in a _Salamander_, leading a pack of _Raynos_ or _Storm Sworder_ or _Pteras_ to defend Helic Republic from its enemies, be it Guylos or Zenebas Empire, or even some terrorists that just wanted to see Helic Republic fall. It wouldn't happen now. Nobody would stand wait and greet her on the ground as she dismounted her _Salamander_. Everything would just be her imagination.

"I won't be here every day. The first year in the military will be harsh. I will have to spend days and nights in the camp. But don't worry, nothing can break me. I will be a pilot, just like you were. I will miss you, Father. Maybe I can visit you in weekends, but obviously not during workdays. I know you will miss me. So here, I will give you something to remember me by."

Saskia pulled out a _Salamander_ model from her duffle bag. It was the same model that her father gave her 10 years ago, the same model that got destroyed by the bullies but she diligently put back together days and nights. It was covered with glue squeeze-out and duct tape. It was ugly, but it was intact.

"I don't need this anymore," Saskia put the model on the grave. "I will get my own _Salamander_. When I get one, I will bring it here and introduce it to you. I know you'll like it, Father, just like you liked your _Pteras_. It will take me high in the sky, so I can be close to you… you know, in spirit. And maybe, just maybe, I can avenge you. I'll find the one that shot you and I will kill him with my _Salamander_. It may take 5 or 10 years, but be patient and have faith in me."

Saskia fought back tears when she kissed her father's headstone. "Goodbye, Father. Love you always."

* * *

The Helic military headquarters was a white-walled behemoth. The main rotunda - the impromptu recruiting station – was hundreds of feet tall. All eight walls were draped in banners of all the fighting units in the Helic military, an elegant but conceited display of the strength of the armed power of the Republic. Corner-to-corner, it was so wide that it could nest all but the largest zoid inside. Legend had it said that the greatest zoid of all time, Helic's _King Gojulas_, was commissioned in this room before being sent off to battle the Guylos Empire.

Saskia felt small to step into the same room as the legendary 'King of Zoids', but at the same time proud to be considered worthy of joining the military where The King once ruled. The line to the recruiting table was quite long, monopolized by teens like herself. Everybody seemed to be lost in their own thoughts, and for a moment Saskia wondered if anybody knew about the legend. But nobody seemed to care.

The line moved excruciatingly slowly but finally Saskia arrived at the recruiting table. The officer was grumpy, and understandably so when he had to deal with fresh recruits all day. He looked at Saskia from head to toe, measuring her up and down, probably wondering why a clueless teen like her would want to join the military. Or maybe pity, considering what was waiting for her during the boot camp.

"Name?" he gruffed unenthusiastically.

"Leewenhoek, Sir," Saskia replied while handing out her paperwork. "Saskia van Leewenhoek."

"Leewenhoek?" his head snapped and his eyes bugged out. "You're not related to that…"

"My father, Sir," she interjected. "He was my father."

His attitude quickly changed. He looked at her like a father looking at his own daughter. "Captain Leewenhoek was a great soldier of the Republic. Too bad the Guardian Bastards got him while he's retreating. Coward pieces of crap! So…" he slammed a stamp on Saskia's paperwork. "You're here for revenge, huh, lass?"

"In due time, Sir," Saskia tried not to attract unwanted attention on her first day. "One day at a time."

"Great! Don't take too long. Somebody has to teach those pompous scoundrels a lesson! Alright, lass, Air Division is across the room under Air Division banners. Somebody will get you. Good luck, kid."

"Thank you, Sir." She picked up her stamped paperwork and walked across the large room. Drill instructors had started yelling insults and insensitive slurs at the new recruits, even though they were still in the main rotunda. Teenagers with panic stares ran across the room like chickens with their heads cut off. Some big kids almost ran over her, but luckily she saw them coming and performed an 'evasive maneuver' just in time to avoid being knocked down by the _Gojulas_-esque boys.

There were television screens showing a blonde man with a sharp pair of eyes talking to the new recruits. Of course it was a recorded message – or propaganda to be exact – but the image still gave Saskia the creeps. The man's blue eyes pierced right through hers, straight into the back of her mind, as if he was grabbing her brain for attention with his stare.

"… _the time has never been more critical_," the man rumbled with his deep, low voice. "_Listen to me, General Krauser, as I am talking to you, bright young warriors of Helic Republic._ _When I was appointed General of The Army of Helic Republic five years ago, I submitted a proposal to the President and the Senate to increase the welfare of soldiers of The Republic. In it I proposed to increase the benefits of soldiers and zoid pilots several orders in magnitude. The reason was because soldiers and zoid pilots were the first line of defense against the enemies of the Republic like the Guylos and Zenebas Empires. Military personnel deserve better benefits than accountants, doctors, engineers, even the President and the Senate members, because the rise and fall of the Republic lies on the shoulders of military personnel._

_"However, my proposal received strong opposition from the Guardian Force who thought that they were the only ones that deserve so much reward for their achievements. These elitists took credit of everything, from the peace treaty between Helic Republic and Guylos Empire, the destruction of the _Death Saurer_, and the world peace afterward. They have overstayed their welcome for far too long, and it is time to end their reign as a fighting unit._

_"So join me, young Helic warriors! Join me in fighting the Guardian Force and restore sanity to our beloved Zi! We cannot let the Guardian Force decide our future. The future of Helic Republic lies in the hands of bright young warriors like you, not the Guardian Force! Join Helic Military and the finest Zoids in our world as we dive into the heart of the Guardian Force and_…"

"Air Division recruits!" somebody boomed by the door before Saskia had a chance to see the end of the recorded message. She didn't even have time to think about it. She scurried over the screaming officer with several dozen teens in a hurried line.

"Look at you, you worthless runts! You've been sucking The Republic's titties for far too long you can't even draw a straight line!" the officer – obviously the drill instructor for the Air Division – didn't waste time to bark insults at the new recruits. "You have one minute to stuff your crap in Barrack A-5. Barrack A-5! You hear me, maggots?"

"Yes Sir!" the new recruits shouted.

"One minute! If you're not here in one minute, I will grind your asses so hard you'll cry home to your mommies! Move, you disgusting heaps of lard! Move move move!"

Saskia wished she looked for Barrack A-5 instead of watching General Krauser's propaganda. But then how was she supposed to know that Barrack A-5 was for Air Division recruits? And even if she did, there was no way she could store her belongings and go back to face the drill instructor in one minute. It was a ridiculous demand, and she was 'doomed', no matter what she did.

Thus began the long days of pain.


	3. Chapter 2 - Fallen Sky

**TWO**

**FALLEN SKY**

_**New Helic City,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**March 22, ZAC 2121**_

The first couple of months were physically brutal, especially for an overweight, short-breathed, club-footed girl like Saskia. Running, push-ups, wall-climbing, running again, crawling under barbed wire, unarmed combat training, running again, climbing a rope, weight lifting, and running again, all had become the daily regimen for the new recruits. So strenuous Saskia's feet blistered, her fingers calloused, her hands trembled and she couldn't even lift a glass of water during supper. The end of the day was her favorite time where she could lie down on her bed, unmoving, just resting her muscles for another day of torture.

But staying true to her words to her father, she went through the physical agony.

Then came the dreaded centrifuge, where the recruit was sat on a small chamber attached to a powerful motor with a series of high-tensile trusses. The motor whirled the centrifuge chamber, creating high G-force that sucked the consciousness of the poor recruit. Saskia lost count how many times she experienced G-LoC_[1]_, or sprayed blood all over the chamber due to red-out_[2]_.

But she stayed and suffered through inhumane treatment of the centrifuge, until she prevailed.

When it was time to ride the actual zoid, Saskia was only the remaining 5-percent of the original class. Most recruits gave up the centrifuge. It was very satisfying, thinking that she, the unlikeliest cadet to overcome the harsh training regimen, had pushed through all obstacles – including the 'evil' centrifuge - to become the member of Helic military. She wished her father was there to witness her driving a zoid for the first time.

But much to her chagrin – and utter shock – the zoid was her bane.

"Alright Leewenhoek, this is the fifth _Pteras_ assigned to you," her flight instructor grumbled as he handed her the paperwork. "You just broke the all-time record for most zoids assigned to a cadet."

Saskia's face turned blood red when she signed the paper. She didn't understand this – why, of all the obstacles she had to go through to become a zoid pilot, riding a zoid had to be the one she was failing? What was it between her and the zoids? Was she not strong enough to control the mechanical being? Was she too demanding they all mutinied against her? Her father never had problem piloting one. Why did she, now?

"Perhaps _Pteras_ isn't my fit ride, Sir," Saskia tried to defend herself. "Could I possibly try a different kind of zoid? A _Salamander_, maybe?"

"Why in Zenebas' blood do you think you can ride a _Salamander_ when you can't even ride a _Pteras_?" the flight instructor snarled. His eyes sparked with disgust. "Only the best can ride _Salamander_! Your father was a great pilot and even he didn't ride a _Salamander_! Do you seriously think you can?"

"No, Sir," Saskia cringed.

"Now get on your zoid and focus!" the flight instructor snapped the paperwork from her hand. "Impose your will on your zoid. Tell it that you are in control, not it! You are the master, not it! It's not that hard, Leewenhoek. Look at other cadets that scored lower on tests than you. They all ride their _Pteras_ with no problem. I don't understand what's holding you back."

"Sir, yes, Sir," Saskia gave him a quick salute before jogging toward the _Pteras_. It was extremely disheartening when people compared her with her father, but it was inevitable. Her father was loved by all. She, on the other hand, seemed more and more like a disaster. She crashed the first and second _Pteras_ on her first flight with them. The third one wouldn't even leave the ground with her as the pilot. The fourth tried to throw her out of cockpit when she tried some simple maneuvers, and had to be escorted back to ground by Major Diavel himself. Her eyes were heavy with tears, thinking what her father might think of her if he witnessed her embarrassments.

Climbing up into the _Pteras'_ cockpit, Saskia took a moment of silence to think about her strategy in winning the _Pteras'_ heart. This one seemed to be easygoing. It already emitted a series of impatient snorts and growls as Saskia was sitting idly inside the cockpit.

"Come on, _Pteras_, give me a break now," Saskia grabbed the control joystick and pushed it forward. The _Pteras_ spread its wing and the magnetic repulsion levitated it gracefully. Saskia tried not to aggravate the zoid by gently pushing the throttle, making it glide over the hangar. Slowly she increased the speed. The _Pteras_ groaned impatiently, aching for high altitude, but Saskia held the throttle, forcing it to float over the Helic headquarters.

"I am your master," she whispered, praying that the _Pteras_ didn't mutiny and throw her out of the canopy like the previous one. "I am in control. Follow my command, and we will both see the end of the day happy."

The _Pteras_ did what she asked for, but she could tell that it didn't like her. It aggravated her even more; she had piloted 5 different zoids and none of them made connection to her. _Pteras_ were supposed to be mellow-hearted zoids and very easy to pilot. All cadets in her class had started doing cool maneuvers and blowing up things with their _Pteras_. The fact that she was still in introductory level started eroding her confidence.

"So far so good, Leewenhoek," her flight instructor boomed, flying on her side in his _Raynos_. "Now follow my lead."

The _Raynos_ took off to the sky. Saskia pushed the throttle to maximum, setting her _Pteras_ free for high-altitude, high-speed chase. The _Pteras_ chirped and chimed playfully as it followed the _Raynos_. Saskia let it take control for a while, watching how excited it was to soar free on the vast space with gravity as its only restriction. Perhaps the key to win its heart was to not put too much control. Zoids, after all, had their own personalities.

At close to 10,000 feet, the flight instructor leveled off, and Saskia brought her _Pteras_ next to the _Raynos_. For a quick moment she marveled at the unparalleled scene of Planet Zi from far above the ground. The brown desert blended perfectly with the blue sky with sprinkles of white cloud. New Helic City with all its grandeur was only a speckle from the distance. A bright, white, bright, gleaming speckle, but a speckle indeed.

"How do you holding up, Leewenhoek?" the flight instructor came in through the comlink.

"Alright, Sir, I think I start to make connection with the _Pteras_," Saskia replied. "Maybe this is the one for me."

"Only one way to find out. Follow my lead," the flight instructor said, then quickly performed a barrel roll. Saskia twitched the joystick to mimic the _Raynos_. The Pteras shrilled in protest, but did as told nonetheless. It made a hard left bank then dove right behind the _Raynos_. They dropped down from 10,000 feet to a mere 1000 when the Raynos, superior in agility, performed a daring 90-degree pitch then zipped toward New Helic City.

Saskia tugged her joystick, but the _Pteras_ squirmed and squealed as if she was hurting it. It snapped its head backward, almost jerking Saskia loose from the command couch. Its legs thrashed and kicked in the air; its feet splayed wide open. Its wings flapped furiously, causing the zoid to spin out of control.

"Crap! Goddammit… stay calm! Stay calm!" Saskia fought to regain control, knowing that she was only about 1000 feet above the ground, and she couldn't afford another catastrophic crash. She yanked her joystick back and forth, but she over-compensated the _Pteras_' effort to regain control. The _Pteras_ cried out in panic, but Saskia was just as nervous, trying to right the wrong but in reality she was fighting the _Pteras_ to be in charge.

And as it had happened before, the _Pteras_ hit the ground. Pieces of armor and body parts sprayed into a wide area. The left wing of the _Pteras_ snapped at the joint, and metal trusses came crashing down in a loud clatter. The frames creaked and screamed in sickening twisted metal sound, and the _Ptreras_ wailed in a loud, agonizing, ear-piercing cry.

"Oh no…." Saskia buried her face in her palms, realizing that her quest for the military might be over.

She climbed out of the _Pteras_, who gladly assisted her, and sat next to it until her flight instructor came. And as it was not bad enough for Saskia, the _Raynos_ came with the massive, elegant _Salamander_ in tow. Saskia knew the only _Salamander_ pilot care enough to pick her up, and she sunk her head deeper between her knees. The hundred-ton zoid landed gracefully a few dozen feet from the down _Pteras_, and Major Diavel, the Commanding officer of Helic Air Division and an old colleague of her father's, climbed down, marching toward her with the flight instructor two steps behind.

"Sir…" Saskia stood in perfect stance as she snapped a salute. "I can explain…"

"Did you learn anything in class?" Diavel didn't even return her salute. Her long face turned red from wrath. "Did you fall asleep during simulator sessions? Did your father's gene flow in your blood? How come you make the same mistake over and over? You are an embarrassment to your father's legacy!"

Saskia didn't expect to hear that. She knew she didn't live up to her father's greatness, but to call her embarrassment, it hurt her so much she was stunned dumbfounded, unmoving for some time.

"This cadet is untreatable," the flight instructor commented. "I cannot, and I don't want to, sacrifice any more zoid to accommodate her incompetence, regardless who she is and who her father was."

"Sir, I promise this is the last time I make a mess," Saskia begged. "Next time I will prevail…"

"You have 5 chances," Diavel growled his response. "Other cadets only have 2 chances. Most of them succeeded in their first try. It's only because your father was a great wingman of mine that I allow you to have 5 chances, but you still want more! You think just by flashing your father's name you can walk around the system and pilot a zoid like your father? You insolent, ingrate flying brat! I've seen enough! You are out of Air Division!"

She knew it was coming, but it still hurt like a blade through her heart. It froze her, turned her face white like a corpse, and her breath ragged. Her hands trembled, and sweat beaded in her forehead. Her future suddenly tunneled down to a black spot where all she could see was darkness. Her hard work had come to waste. But mostly, it was her failure of being a Helic zoid pilot that mattered most. Before she left, she promised her father that she would be a Helic Republic zoid pilot just like himself. Now it was just a broken promise.

She felt the sky fell on her.

"Fix this zoid," Diavel said to the flight instructor. "Call Combat Service Group, see if they want an extra mechanic. If they don't, send her to logistics. Gonna need a lot of people in the kitchen." He paused to inspect the faint expression on Saskia's face. "You may want to call the medics too."

* * *

**Glossary**

[1] **G-LoC**: G-force Loss of Conscioussness, getting faint because the head does not get enough blood.  
[2] **red out**: too much blood flows into the head, signified by the vision becomes red, hence the name


	4. Chapter 3 - To Arms, To Arms

**THREE**

**TO ARMS, TO ARMS**

_**Aspencade Fortress,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**March 25, ZAC 2121**_

Morning patrol always put Major Diavel in a bad mood.

Gliding far above the cloud inside his _Salamander_, escorted by three _Raynos_, Diavel shielded his eyes from the blinding morning sun rays. Not only was he a late starter, morning patrol always brought him back three years where he, then Captain Diavel, was running a patrol with his best friend and favorite wingman, Captain van Leewenhoek. It was supposed to be an uneventful patrol through the plain desert of north-western Delpoi, where sand dunes and occasional settlements – farmers, miners, scavengers, traders – were the normal sight.

But it happened that a horde of Guardian Force thugs boxed a Helic convoy in a valley. Their intention was not clear; they were not trying to rob the convoy, nor were they gunning toward destroying it. It seemed that they were using it as bait, and their true intention was to hurt Helic forces that tried to assist the convoy. He learnt that fact after he barely escaped heavy anti-air barrages, and had to leave the vicinity without his best friend.

"Blue Streak, Blue Streak, this is Thunder Two Alpha," his morning reckoning was cut short – thankfully – by a call from the headquarters. "Blue Streak, do you read?"

"Thunder Two Alpha, this is Blue Streak," Diavel picked up the call from his comset.

"Be advised, we pick up distress signal from Seven-Seven-Ground. A Guardian Force unit is picking up on them, a mix of land and aerial zoids. We're sending you a new Nav point to assist Seven-Seven-Ground."

"Acknowledged, Thunder Two Alpha," Diavel watched his HUD as a new patrol route appeared on his screen. It was only 5 minutes from his position. "Tell Seven-Seven-Ground to watch their fire; I'm coming in from two-niner-four high, ETA two minutes. Blue Streak out."

He quickly hailed his wingmen. "A Helic convoy is under fire from the Guardian Force. We are going in. Watch out for their crossfire, these guys are using convoys to hurt Helic zoids. We are their true targets, not the convoy. Follow my lead and do as I say. Let's kill ourselves some Guardian Force!"

Diavel never considered the Guardian Force as special. He worked with them in the past, and he was not impressed with their fanaticism or their work ethic, save for a few key personnel like Van Flyheight and Rob Herman. They were just a bunch of professional zoid pilots paid to bridge the peace between the Helic Republic and Guylos Empire. He didn't even care when the Guardian Force started a campaign to counter General Krauser's proposal to balloon Helic Military power by increasing the soldier's welfare. Others might think that the Guardian Force crossed the line when it meddled with Helic Republic internal affair. Diavel was indifferent.

But when the Guardian Force started attacking Helic military personnel, that was when he drew the line. They might be the savior of humanity during Chaotic Era, but they have turned their guns at the Republic. Thus they have made themselves the enemies of the Republic, and it was his job to terminate all enemies of the Republic. It was a job he held very proudly and very seriously.

And now that they had killed his best friend, he had made this war personal. He had made it his business that he would see the end of the Guardian Force.

His _Salamander_ spread its wing, exposing as much Magnesser wings as possible, and went into Mach 2 zone. The _Raynos_ trio, capable of flying in excess of Mach 3 with only aerodynamics, flapped their wings in vigor to match the _Salamander_. They flew over a mountain range, then dove right into the valley where a convoy, consisted of several _Gustavs_, was under heavy fire from half a dozen _Redlers_, a _Lightning Saix_, and a couple of _Guysaks_. Three _Gustavs_ were already down in flames, just like the convoy's original escorts, two _Command Wolves_ and two _Gun Snipers_.

"Break formation and clear out the _Redlers_!" Diavel yelled as he put his crosshair on the closest _Guysak_. As his reticule burnt solid gold, he fired his missiles, one after another. The first one ripped the _Guysak_ on the tail, the second blasted its right side. Orange fireballs enveloped the _Guysak_ as seared-off limbs flew into the air. The scorpion-like zoid was lifted into the air and overturned, flat on its back, with its right legs blown into pieces. Smoke and sparks gushed out from the stumps, and what were left of the legs flailed up and down in vain.

Realizing a new threat, the _Lightning Saix_ turned around and fired its long-barreled pulse laser rifles. Diavel yanked his joystick hard to the left. His _Salamander_ tucked its wings in and executed a tight barrel roll, missing the volley by a mere inch. Pissed, the _Lightning Saix_ trailed the _Salamander_, spitting out salvo after salvo in quick successions, but Diavel pushed down his joystick as far as he could, bringing his _Salamander_ into a steep dive. The _Saix_'s bolts flew harmlessly on its rear. A couple of them came dangerously close between its feet, but it was the only close encounter.

A few seconds from crashing to the ground, Diavel jerked his joystick backward. The hundred-ton _Salamander_ spread its wings wide, suspending the large bird mid air, just several hundred feet away from the other _Guysak_. The _Guysak_ pilot was taken aback, and fired its tail cannon while backpedalling. Murderous flashes hammered the _Salamander's_ chest, but failed to do anything except extracting a sadistic grin from Diavel's face.

Diavel mashed the trigger with his thumb, and the twin Vulcan Phalanx on the _Salamander_'s torso lit up, showering the _Guysak_ with armor-piercing shells. The claws breached; two oversized metal pinchers flew into the air in a cloud of smoke and debris. The _Guysak_ roared in panic and turned around to flee, but the _Salamander_ grabbed the tail with its feet. Diavel throttled up while manipulating his joystick in circular pattern, causing the _Salamander_ to spin in the air with the _Guysak_ on its feet. Then the big bird released its grip and hurled the _Guysak_ at the _Saix_.

The 22-ton metal scorpion zipped in the air straight at the _Saix_, and only the _Saix_' superior agility saved it from the catastrophic collision. The _Guysak,_ however, was not so lucky. It slammed into a rock formation. The _Guysak's_ long body crashed into its own thorax then exploded in brilliant color, raining burning debris on a wide area.

The _Lightning Saix_ jumped onto a ledge and fired its pulse laser rifles. The first salvo flew over Diavel's head, but the second one struck the _Salamander_ at the base of its neck. It cried, noting Diavel that another hit like that would end up in internal damage. Smelling blood, the _Saix_ charged the _Salamander_ with both cannons blazing. Diavel tugged the joystick as he maxed out the throttle, bringing the _Salamander_ into a series of loops, pitches, and rolls, missing waves after waves of fire from the _Lightning Saix_. _Salamander_ was not known for speed and agility, but Diavel had known his zoid for a long time. He knew its strengths and weaknesses, and he knew how it would react to every single flick of his joystick.

Watching the big bird evaded the laser strikes with the ease of a zoid half its size, the _Saix_ knew it was fighting a battle it couldn't win, so it decided to run. Diavel put every ounce of power into the Magnesser System, forcing the _Salamander_ to chase the _Saix_ full speed while raining down his firepower upon it. Laser bolts peppered the back of the _Saix_, drilling holes and cracks on the armor. Soon the rear end of the _Saix_ started spewing smoke. Panic growl escaped the _Saix's_ snout as it crisscrossed its path, trying to dodge Diavel's barrages, but Diavel deftly tracked the _Saix_ movements, making every turn more painful for the feline zoid.

In the end, the damages became critical, and the Saix started to limp. With a powerful swoop the _Salamander_ struck the hind legs of the _Saix_. The black metal feline rolled and crashed on its back. Diavel landed on top of it, with one claw pinning its abs, the other on its throat. Then he flicked the bottom-most toggle on his joystick. With a high-pitched screech the _Salamander_ open its mouth and jetted superheated plasma at the _Saix_. The black cheetah roared in defiance, but did nothing more than just squirmed and writhed in its death throes as flames consumed it from the armor to the very core.

Satisfied, Diavel pushed his throttle and the _Salamander_ soared, leaving the scorching, crackling _Saix_ to burn.

"Ground threats neutralized," he hailed his teammates. "_Raynos_, what's your sitrep?"

"_Redlers_ are in full retreat, Sir," one of his wingmen replied. "Permission to pursue?"

"Negatory," Diavel reined his wingmen, lest the Guardian Force set up an ambush like they did with Captain van Leewenhoek. "Disengage enemy units and form on my wing." He switched to different frequency and hailed the convoy. "Seven-Seven-Ground, this is Blue Streak. How are you holding up?"

"We're hurtin' but alive, Blue Streak. Thanks for the escort. Guardian Force has been escalating attacks near Aspencade Fortress lately. A lot of convoys have been mowed down by their overwhelming force. We'll need more back up."

"Acknowledge, Seven-Seven-Ground, I'll relay the information to Thunder Two Alpha. What do you think they're interested in at Aspencade?"

"I don't know, Blue Streak, but it gets worse every day. Maybe they're taking over this area."

"Affirmative, Seven-Seven-Ground. Do you think you can proceed without escort?"

"Godspeed we'll manage, Blue Streak. Thanks again. Seven-Seven-Ground out."

Diavel tugged his joystick, bringing his _Salamander_ to gain altitude. Far in front of him, by the ocean shore, perched Aspencade Fortress, a brand new Helic complex consisted of military bunkers and hangars for zoids, and half a dozen Gravity Cannons. Four of the monstrous guns were directed at the sea, supposedly to shoot any raiding party that tried to invade Delpoi from the ocean. The other two were directed along the coast line on opposite directions. Hundreds of cannons and guns of all sorts adorned the fortress.

_What does the Guardian Force want here?_ Diavel thought as he glided over the fortress. _What is it looking for? Dominance? Weapons? Making a statement? What?_ Questions kept piling up, and he decided to return to base and let his superior, General Krauser, handle it.


	5. Chapter 4 - Rock Bottom

**FOUR**

**ROCK BOTTOM**

**Note: **The military "bigotism" mentioned in this chapter is modeled after military society in BattleTech's _The Clans_, which in turn was modeled after The Mongols in the 13th Century. Zoids Battle Story, anime, and manga did not mention any military segregation within Helic Republic. I included it just for fun :) and also it serves as the first clue of what will come much, much later.

As always, I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

_**Aspencade Fortress,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**March 26, ZAC 2121**_

The scenes of carnage made Saskia's stomach churned. The path to the fortress was marred with charred hulks; some of them were still smoking and crackling with fire. Destroyed zoids, carrying both Helic Republic and Guardian Force insignias, littered the ground as far as 10 miles from the fortress. Zoids parts were more common sights than dune vegetation or wild zoids indigenous to the desert of the Central Continent. And the smell of death reeked into the transport that carried her and dozens other new recruits to Aspencade Fortress.

_Why does everything come to this?_ Saskia mused morosely. _What happens to the Guardian Force that was sworn to uphold peace for Zi? Is this violence necessary? Have ego and money trump over sanity and lives?_ Her childhood memory was full of stories of heroism and peace, where the Guardian Force, Helic Republic, and Guylos Empire worked together in harmony to bring peace to the entire Planet Zi. She had no idea that one day she would join the military to fight the Guardian Force.

Perhaps she was just being naïve. Nothing was like it seemed.

The transport arrived at Aspencade Fortress, and the new recruits jogged outside to form a single line. The fortress was a magnificent place. It was a concrete jungle; countless barracks, hangars, and control towers spread as far as the eyes could see. Four gargantuan Gravity Cannons were directed at the sea; each had a diameter of roughly 165 feet. They reminded Saskia about the story of Van Flyheight who destroyed a _Death Saurer_ with his _Liger_ shot from a Gravity Cannon like these. Four Gravity Cannons faced the desert, and a couple more completed the ensemble parallel to the shore line, facing opposite directions.

"Orders! Orders!" some officers greeted the new recruits with sour faces and hostile yells. Each recruit handed on his order, and the officer sent him to report to his commanding officer. A mangy corporal snatched Saskia's order from her hand, and upon sending her to her CO, he looked disparagingly at her while chuckled curtly. "Hangar B! Report to Tech Sergeant Serow! Move out, you grease monkey!"

Saskia jogged toward a cluster of hangars on the east side of the fortress, ducking and zigzagging to avoid getting trampled by zoids. She never saw so many zoids in one place before. _Command Wolves_ and _Gun Snipers_ were the norm, making up the bulk of the units. Large zoids like _Gojulas_, _Gordos_, _Shield Ligers_, and _Dibisons_ showed up sparingly, most likely belonged to aces and unit commanders. But what made her bittersweet was the pack of _Raynos_ and _Storm Sworders_ patrolling the fortress far above in the sky. Saskia felt a tight knot in her throat watching the flying zoids circling high in the sky.

Coming into the hangar, the acrid smell of grease and smoke greeted her. Gears and tools cluttered the floor. Cables, hoses, and conduits hung freely from the ceiling like vines. Armor platings were stacked against the wall. Weapons, missiles and zoid equipments lied on top of each other. And a handful of technicians yelled at each other as they worked on several damaged zoids. It was total chaos.

"Tech Sergeant Serow?" Saskia cried out as she ventured deeper into the hangar, but her voice was swallowed by engine roars, hissing hoses, and whirring power tools. "Tech Sergeant Serow? Where can I find Tech Sergeant Serow?"

A technician happened to hear her, so he pointed to a man screaming his lungs out at a couple of young technicians. Saskia swallowed hard as she walked toward the man. From the look of him, he was a middle-aged grouch who didn't like his job. He stood just an inch short of Saskia, but his fiery eyes made him look actually bigger than her.

"Tech Sergeant Serow? Cadet Saskia van Leewenhoek reporting to duty," she snapped a salute and handed in her order. The tech sergeant snapped the paper, almost ripping it in half, while looking at her from head to toe in disbelief. Saskia felt like she was being stripped naked. But she maintained her perfect stance. She didn't want him to think less of her than he might already have.

"What do you know about machinery?" Serow growled skeptically.

"Uhm… very little, Sir."

"Then why are you here?" he boomed in her face. "What are you doing in my place?"

"I want to serve, Sir," Saskia realized she didn't have a room to get around that question. It was best to just tell him the truth. It may hurt her dignity, but at least she could gain his respect for being honest. "I applied for Air Division, but I was not good enough to ride a zoid. Major Diavel sent me here."

"That's just perfect!" Serow chuckled bitterly. "That's right! Just send all the rejects to Service Department! What do they think I'm running here? A surf shop? A burger joint? A massage parlor? Just wait until their zoids stop working! Then they'll come here busting my ass and complaining about my work! What a bunch of self-centered pricks!"

The tech sergeant ripped Saskia's order and tossed it into a garbage can, then stormed into his room, leaving Saskia standing dumbfounded. Five seconds later he came out, screaming "Huy! Hotep! Get your asses down here!"

The two young techs he was yelling at five minutes ago came running at him. He grabbed a dirty, oil-smeared jumpsuit and tossed it at Saskia. "Y'all get another hobo from Air Division! Get her to work on the _Double Sworder_! And don't touch anything else! Do you understand?"

"Yes Sir!" the two young techs replied in unison. They were barely in their 20's, and almost as clueless as Saskia. They were covered in grease and soot. But they maintained a good attitude, and although Serow yelled at them pretty harshly five minutes ago, they didn't seem to get intimidated by him.

"Air Division, huh?" one of them, the blond guy, approached Saskia. "What did you do?"

"Failing," Saskia replied with a shrug. "Wrecking two _Pteras_."

"Huy here scared a _Godos_ so bad it went rogue," the dark haired one quipped while slapping the shoulder of the blond. "That's why he ended up here."

Saskia smiled a little comfortably. "And what did you do?"

"Nothing. I always wanted to be a zoid technician…"

"He didn't even pass written exams," the blond retaliated. "He's too dumb to ride a zoid. I'm Huy. He's Hotep. Welcome to the Wrecking Team."

"Wrecking Team?" Saskia's eyes bugged out.

"We took zoids apart, let the real techs work on the issues, then put them back together," Hotep explained. "It's a stress-free job with long hours and minimum payday, but hey, nobody comes to us when the zoids do not work as they're supposed to. Well, except for Zoids Nazi over there."

"Tech Sergeant Serow? Is he that bad?"

"He's not bad. He just hates his job. You know, the Republic will deny this, but the military is divided into 3 major castes. The higher caste is zoids pilots. This is where everybody wants to go, but only the best can. The middle caste is infantry, drivers, transport crews, sapper teams, ordnances, all soldiers that don't use zoids but still hold weapons. The lower caste is the labor workers. Technicians, logistics, mess hall. That's us. This is where we belong. Everybody in this caste is as cranky as Tech Sergeant Serow, because nobody wants to be here."

Saskia smiled bitterly. His father never told her about the reality of military life. All she knew about the military was piloting an awesome zoid, going to war, then shooting the awesome weapons at another zoid, which exploded into brilliant colors. But of course, that was probably the only thing his father knew about the military. He was in the highest "caste" of the military, and he didn't have to crawl into the blood pit to mess with the zoids. He didn't have to see what Saskia had to see, and do what she had to do.

"Maybe when General Krauser's proposal gets signed by the President and the Senate, life here will get better here," Saskia said wishfully. "You know, flexible hours, better payday…"

"What proposal?" Huy broke into wry mirth. "Krauser's proposal doesn't work for us."

"How come? We're the military too, aren't we?"

"Didn't you pay attention to my story about caste division of Helic military?" Hotep snapped. "Krauser's proposal works only for them, the high and exulted zoid pilots. The infantry, vehicle crews, and sapper teams get breadcrumbs from the zoid pilots. And we, technicians, get breadcrumbs from the infantry. In other words, we get nothing."

"What? That's not fair!" Saskia blurted. "Come to think of it, the techs are the ones that keep all zoids in good condition, right? We play as much role as the pilots in keeping the military up and running, right?"

"You start to sound like Serow, and you've not been here for an hour," Huy laughed as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "Cheer up, milady. It's not that bad if you think about it."

"I know. It's just…" Saskia blushed. "I heard about Krauser's proposal when I joined the military. I had high hope… hell, everybody I talked to had high hope for Krauser's proposal. I didn't understand why the Guardian Force could oppose such a plan to increase the welfare of military personnel. But if it only works for the pilots…"

"The moral of the story, Saskia, is don't be anything but a zoid pilot," Hotep grinned. "Anything else can only be regarded as 2nd-class citizen, thus gets 2nd-class privilege, a.k.a. no privilege at all. Since we are already in this category, and there's no way to climb up anytime soon, the best course of action is to suck it up and take it like a man."

"Or a woman," Huy added. "And since you've already seen the bile Tech Sergeant Serow can throw at you, you'd better suit up and start working before he sees you."

"Oh, right!" Saskia forged a smile. "But I don't have any technical skill. I've never worked on a zoid before."

"Relax. Just watch us. You'll get the hang of it in a few days."


	6. Chapter 5 - Blood Offerings

**FIVE**

**BLOOD OFFERINGS**

**Note**: Zoids Battle Story mentioned that Helic Republic did have Senate assembly, but it did not appear in Chaotic Century. In fact, the Republic in Chaotic Century resembled a monarchy where the incumbent president _inherited_ the presidency from her deceased husband, rather than getting elected like normal republic.

In this story the Helic Republic is closer to the United States although with much simplification.

Also, at this point this story had garnered 100+ hits, so in average each chapter is read by 20 people. I hope everybody is enjoying it so far.

* * *

_**New Helic City,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**April 1, ZAC 2121**_

The Senate Chamber was packed to its fullest capacity. All members of the Helic Senate clocked in, a fact that didn't happen very often except in the time of war. The seats were arranged in a crescent cascade with President Bonneville, the incumbent leader of the Republic, sat at the lower center of the bow. The Senate members sat behind him as if everybody was backing him up.

Yet they did not discourage General Krauser as he walked to the center of the room.

Standing at the podium at the center of the room, facing hundreds of pairs of eyes, Krauser paused momentarily to stare at the President and at the Senate. He knew this day wouldn't be a good day for him. No day was a good day when he had to deal with the legislative assemblies of the Helic Republic. This was the major obstacle in doing his job: to present his case and wait for their so-called democratic decision.

General Krauser didn't believe in democracy. He believed in armed resolution. The Helic Republic and Guylos Empire had been at near-constant armed conflict since ZAC1980, and even at truce they instigated violence at the border. Never once the differences between Helic Republic and Guylos Empire were solved with democratic decision. Added to that the Zenebas faction which constantly appeared at the worst possible moments, and the old Republic had its hands full. There was no time for diplomacy. Everything had to be resolved by guns.

But in his 50 or so years of military careers, Krauser had never seen anybody taking the time to understand this philosophy. The military was nothing more than puppets of the Presidents and the Senates. The legislative assemblies always had the final say on any armed conflict, and the deployment of the military always depended upon the assemblies' decision.

This situation would have to change somehow, and Krauser was determined to do it.

"Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen of the Senate, I bring you disturbing news from the front line," Krauser didn't waste time to open the hearing. "We have reports that The Guardian Force has been increasing its activities near our Aspencade Fortress. Within last month alone the Helic Republic lost 5 convoys and 25 zoids, more than the casualties for the entire year of ZAC2120. This loss has cost Helic Republic an invaluable amount of assets. We lost a good number of Zoid pilots, millions of war machines, and time of investigation. We cannot let this situation go out of hands. We must react before it is too late.

"Therefore I motion for the deployment of the _Gojulas Giga_ to counter the Guardian Force maneuver. Arm my unit with _Gojulas Giga_ and I assure you I will suppress the Guardian Force movement in one-month time. All Helic Republic citizens will walk free of the Guardian Force wherever they want to go."

"General Krauser, we have to be careful about our action," President Bonneville got up from his chair. "The _Gojulas Giga_ are the best weapons of Helic Republic at this moment. Deploying _Gojulas Giga_ at the wrong time will make the wrong impression for the Guylos Empire. Before we know it, we will plunge in an armed race with the Guylos, and in the end we'll go in another open war, one we may not be able to win."

"We do not have the luxury of caring about the Guylos Empire," Krauser raised his voice. "Our war with the Guylos has past, and our next war against them may happen tomorrow, next week, next year, or may not happen at all. But the conflict with the Guardian Force is happening now, today, as we speak. My troops are dying when you are sitting here thinking about the next war with the Guylos Empire that will or will not happen. We have to act now."

"General Krauser, the Guardian Force was founded to accommodate peace between Helic Republic and Guylos Empire. Half of the members of Guardian Force came from Guylos Empire. What we need is a diplomatic talk with the Guylos Empire on how to end this violence. We can solve this problem without much bloodshed."

"Mr. President, this is not the time for another talk. The longer we wait, the better the Guardian Force is prepared. I have every reason to believe it is mounting an attack at Aspencade Fortress. Convoys going in and out of the fortress have been singled out with great precision. We cannot afford to lose any moment. I need the _Gojulas Giga_ to defend Aspencade Fortress. Release the _Gojulas Giga_ before it's too late!"

"I am not releasing the _Gojulas Giga_ unless Guylos Empire goads us into it!" President Bonneville boomed. "They are our main defense line to counter Guylos' best zoids. They are strong enough to beat even the _Death Saurer_. They are not toys that you can deliberately use in petty conflicts!"

"Petty conflicts? You dare to call this a petty conflict?" Krauser came at Bonneville full force. "You tell that to the families of soldiers that were butchered in cold blood by the Guardian Force! Tell that to the widows and orphans of zoid pilots who were burnt alive in the cockpit! Tell them how their fathers died! You politicians never look in the eyes of the dying soldiers and live by it! You just sit here, confined in concrete walls, talking your asses off while your soldiers are giving up their lives for you!"

"General Krauser, this is blasphemy!" a senior senator rose. "If I recall correctly, this conflict with the Guardian Force started when you submitted your proposal to increase soldier's welfare. _You_ started this conflict, General Krauser! _You_ end it, and don't drag us with you!"

"If I didn't know you, I would've thought you were taking the Guardian Force side!" Krauser returned fire. "The Guardian Force attacked and killed Helic military personnel. That makes the Guardian Force the enemy of the Helic Republic, and whoever takes its side is the enemy of the Republic! All enemies of the Republic must die!"

"Is that a threat, General Krauser?" another senator rose from his seat, followed by two dozen more, expressing the same distress.

"We need to calm down and stop throwing insults at each other!" President Bonneville tried to defuse the situation. "General, your little stunt will not help your cause! Calm down!"

"I have nothing else to say!" Krauser grimaced. "It is clear to me now where you politicians stand. I am doing the best I can to save Helic Republic from its enemies, but you make it impossible for me to do my job. I demand the use of _Gojulas Giga_, but you would rather see Helic personnel getting mauled by the Guardian Force than end this conflict. Just remember: when Aspencade falls, their blood will be on you!"

The crowd broke into curses, but Krauser stormed out of the chamber.

* * *

Major Diavel had predicted the breakdown between General Krauser and the legislative assemblies. President Bonneville had never been a supporter of violence. He always opted for diplomacy where "talks" was the bloodless solution to most conflicts. War was only the last resource and must be avoided at all cost whenever possible.

But Diavel came from a long line of military servicemen, and he agreed with Krauser's point of view. The cost of running an empire is blood. The moment the empire didn't want to pay the price anymore, it would fall. War was a nasty business but it was necessary to keep everything in order. Plus, no negotiation and diplomacy had succeeded in the past. All conflicts ended up with war.

"Our country is a piece of joke, Diavel," Krauser grumbled while his eyes were glued to the overhead map surrounding Aspencade Fortress. "Those who make decisions do not know how to make decisions, and those who know how to make decisions are not allowed to make decisions. The damn politicians don't know what it takes to run the Republic! They think the conflict with Guardian Force is just a game. They need to wake up. The enemy of the Republic is not Guylos or Zenebas anymore."

"We can still optimize our assets without the _Gojulas Giga_, Sir," Diavel said, trying to make the best of the situation. "Some new recruits have just been transferred to Aspencade Fortress, and they are not maximized. I can rearrange their patrol duties so they will cover a portion of the veterans' duty. We can rest the veterans for battle with the Guardian Force, if they decide to attack Aspencade."

"It's not going to make much difference," Krauser sighed. "The Guardian Force is equipped with state-of-the-art battle technology. We can see them come, but we may not be able to stop them." He paused for a moment, studying the map, then finalized his decision. "You know what, Diavel? Get your veterans out of Aspencade. Send more rookies and regulars to defend the fortress."

"Sir?" Diavel couldn't believe his ears. "The rookies and regulars are not ready to take on the Guardian Force. Without our veterans, Aspencade will fall."

"Without _Gojulas Giga_, Aspencade will fall, with or without our veterans," Krauser replied. "I will not let our most experienced troops to be massacred by the Guardian Force. Let Aspencade fall. If anything, it will wake up the president and his Senate goons that we need all resources in our arsenal."

If Krauser was planning something, Diavel simply couldn't see it. "But Sir… what about the fortress? What about the new recruits? What about the zoids? What about the logistics and the workers? They all will perish! The Helic Republic may not recover from such a terrible blow!"

Krauser turned around and stared deep into Diavel's eyes. "It can and it will! The Helic Republic survived devastation at the Devil's Maze. It survived the catastrophic war of the Western Continent. Surely it can survive a simple loss of a fortress. Yes, the rookies will die, but they are expendable. Once the lazy politicians realize the gravity of the situation, they will deploy the _Gojulas Giga_. Then we will arm our veteran pilots with _Gojulas Giga_, march toward the last stronghold of the Guardian Force and wipe it out from the surface of Zi!"

"But…"

"You still need a lot to learn, Diavel," Krauser snorted. "Victory is impossible without sacrifice. It is our job as the commanding officers to decide which sacrifice will result in the most decisive victory. Now get out of here and pull out your best troops from Aspencade before it's too late. I will send more greenhorns to the fortress."

As Krauser stepped out of the ready room, Diavel threw his body on a chair, trying to digest Krauser's mean battle plan. Part of him disagreed with Krauser: why should Helic defense rely solely on _Gojulas Giga_? Why couldn't a well-thought strategy, perfectly executed, beat the Guardian Force? Why should the rookies take the brunt of the Krauser's disagreement with President Bonneville and the Senate? Nothing made sense to him.

But he was a soldier of the Helic Republic. If it was what it took to preserve the old Republic, then so be it.


	7. Chapter 6 - Fate As We Know It

**SIX**

**FATE AS WE KNOW IT**

* * *

**Review's Corner:**

**randomcat23**: Thank you so much for the supports! You've been here longer than I am, and your writings are great. I am honored to have been reviewed by you.

Saskia had difficult time bonding with zoids because she – for lack of better words – sucks. She stays in the program just by pure stubbornness. She just won't quit. But when it comes to skill, she is not skillful enough to control her zoid quickly. She needs time. Unfortunately, the Republic is in a state of war so it doesn't have time for her. The Republic needs pilots fast.

But it will change. Soon she finds "something" that matches her personality so she can bond *wink wink*

The Guylos Empire will appear later, although for simplicity purposes, they will not take part in the conflict. I don't want to make this into a 3-way conflict because it's confusing to write and even more confusing to read.

I can't say too much about the Guardian Force without revealing the plot, but I can say this: when the old GF members appear (Van, Irvine, Moonbay, Fiona, Rob Herman) it will be clear what is truly going on. So stay tuned!

* * *

_**Aspencade Fortress,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**May 15, ZAC 2121**_

Aspencade Fortress perched smugly on a rocky cliff facing Florecio Ocean. The mile-long concrete wall just kissed the edge of the rock formation, which immediately dropped several hundred feet down straight into the water. Small rocky hills sandwiched the fortress on its left and right, providing excellent protection against flanking enemies. Some of these hills reflected weird, eerie gleam during sundown, adding a nuance of mystery surrounding the already creepy rocky cliff.

The sky was always Saskia's sanctuary after long hours of gritty work in the hangar. Ten hours of hard labor was the norm, twelve happened occasionally. Fourteen- to fifteen-hour day didn't happen very often, but it did happen. But no matter how long she worked, she always found time lying on the cliff outside the fortress, doing nothing but to stare at the sky. Most of the time she could still see the blue sky before the sun rolled beneath the sea. A fourteen-hour day put her at dusk where the sky had turned black. But it gave her a different perspective as the stars started climbing up toward the zenith, showering her with warm twinkles and mischievous flickers throughout the night.

Saskia recalled many hours she spent lying on his father's tombstone, doing exactly like she was doing now: staring at the sky, hoping that one day the wild blue yonder would be hers. Five years later and she was nowhere closer to her dream. She was still clinging to the ground. And looking at where she was now, she doubted she would ever leave the ground.

For that reason, she had not visited her father since she started her life at the Helic military.

"I could cry, Father, but I'm done crying," she talked to herself as the tidal wave hammered the cliff in a rhythmical bellows. "I guess I'm not like you, and it's naïve of me to think that I'm like you. I've spent the better part of my youth trying to be you. You know that. We've talked about this many times. You've been very supportive of me, although you're not completely agree with my decision to go to the military. I guess I should've listened to you.

"I just like the sky, Father, just like you loved it. I want to be a part of it. I want to fly. I want to have wings so I don't have to depend on zoids or airplanes to take me to it. I want to lie down in the clouds and feel it between my fingers. I want to dance in the rain long before it touches the ground. I want to slide on the rainbow from one end to the other. I want… I want… so much I want to do.

"I wish you were here with me."

The sun started rolling down into the water, and Saskia felt she had been mulling over the impossible for too long. She got up and started walking back to the fortress to rest but the eerie gleam from the hill on the far side of the fortress piqued her interest. She noticed the soft gleam changes with the sunray's angle, as if the face of the rock had multiple reflective surfaces. But she knew it didn't. It was a virtually flat surface. That weird, eerie gleam did not come from the reflection of the rock.

"What is that?" she mused. It was near dusk, and the day would soon change to night, so she decided to let it go. But two steps later she changed her mind. She decided to check it out.

The path to the rocky hill was filled with jagged-edge rocks and pebbles, and Saskia's moccasins were torn to the point she was close to walking barefooted, but she managed to come close to the hill. And surprise surprise, it was not a flat cliff like she saw from the distance. There was a large opening on the face of the cliff. The opening was large enough for a large zoid like _Gojulas_ to stand underneath it. But somehow the reflection of the rocks played a trick on her eyes, so from the fortress this opening didn't seem to exist.

"What is this place?" Saskia mumbled as she walked into the opening, eyes bugged open, trying to catch signs of movement. There were some small wild zoids, mechanical insects that roamed the inside of the opening, but they chirped and dispersed into the dark part of the opening as Saskia walked in. The sun was part way into the water providing sufficient light for her to walk without a flashlight. She could see the interior of the opening, no signs of humans, just wild zoids. And the deeper she walked into the opening, the stronger the eerie gleam became.

Soon Saskia came to a rocky ledge. She paused for a while, pondering if she wanted to continue and see what lied beneath that ledge, or just to let it go and went on with her life. There was a reason why people had not discovered this place. She was really close to turning back. But that soft, eerie gleam seemed to be calling her name. In the end, her curiosity won over her logic. She stepped forward to the edge of the ledge and claimed her prize.

The ledge overlooked a deep, large pit, hundreds of feet in height, and even longer in width. There was a very large zoid, if such monstrosity could be called a zoid, lying at the bottom of the pit unlike anything she had ever seen before. It was massive, much larger than a _Salamander_. Her raw estimation – based on comparison with the _Salamander_'s size and weight – put it at approximately 300 to 400 tons. It even dwarfed the mighty _Gojulas _by sheer size, and Saskia had seen how big a _Gojulas_ was.

The thing was painted black with purple spots all over her body. Her back sported very wide wings that didn't even fit inside the pit. The wings were bent all over the place. Half of its body submerged into the water, and judging by the amount of rust and corrosion, Saskia guessed the zoid had been here for a long time. But the upper part was in rather shiny shape, and the smooth surface reflected the sunrays with a soft but eerie gleam.

But it was its design that threw Saskia completely off. All zoids she knew were based off existing "animal", both prehistoric and contemporary. At first she was hoping that this was the remain of the mighty _King Gojulas_, but it was not. _King Gojulas_ did not have wings. This design was out of this world – there was never an existing "animal" that she could relate it to. The only thing that came close in comparison to the zoid was a mythical creature called a _dragon_, a fire-breathing lizard existed only in fantasy books.

"Holy shit…" Saskia whispered breathlessly. "Who are you… What are you?"

She climbed down the ledge to the bottom of the pit to get a closer look. The water was waist deep, so it was easy for her to reach the mysterious zoid and climbed onto its back. The back was smooth but the armor was torn apart, a sure sign that this zoid had gone through an unimaginable carnage. Battles? Battles with who? Where? When? Questions filled up her head as she ventures deeper toward the zoid's rear. Six rocket boosters, three on each sides, jutted from its waist. And between the boosters lied a long tail, smooth as rubber, that seemingly had no end in sight.

Wings. Rocket boosters. Fly. _This thing flies. It flies!_

Excited, Saskia went back to the cockpit. The canopy spread almost as long as its slender head. Saskia slipped her fingers underneath the canopy and reached for the release lever. She pulled it, and the canopy hissed, spitting a ton of dust and steam. It cranked open with a loud shriek. She waited until the dust and steam dispersed, then pricked her head inside….

… and went directly face to face with a skeleton, sitting on the command couch, grinning at her.

"Oh My God!" she screamed and lost her grip. She slid on the snout of the zoid and fell into the water. Her heart drummed twice as fast as her normal rate, and she decided she had enough. She climbed the ledge then ran outside the cave. She stopped and knelt, panting laboriously, taking deep breath and coughed incessantly. Five minutes went by before she calmed herself down and started to assess the situation.

That skeleton was the last owner of the zoid. Even though he was long dead, there should be something in him that could tell her what the thing was. For a start, that zoid was created by Zoidians and piloted by a Zoidian. She saw battle scars all over its body, so without a doubt they went to a war together. But what war? What year? What faction? She knew almost all zoids in history but she had never seen something like this before.

When her curiosity trumped her fear, she went back into the cave, climbed the zoid, and searched the skeleton for any information. But amazingly she found nothing. It seemed that the cockpit caught fire so all valuable items had been burnt to ashes. What a way to die, burnt alive in a cockpit of a zoid.

It was close to midnight when Saskia removed the bones out of the cockpit and buried them under a pile of rocks next to the zoid. She gave the zoid a thorough look one more time before walking back home.


	8. Chapter 7 - Make Your Own Destiny

**SEVEN**

**MAKE YOUR OWN DESTINY**

**Review Corner**: **randomcat23**, thank you so much for your continuing support. If I were in Saskia's situation, I would've gone to the police and blabbered like a drunken maniac But Saskia had other plans for herself. I guess she had a bit of a "devious" side as is described in this chapter. I hope you like it.

**Note**: Now please don't crucify me for my zoid of choice. I already stay away from Organoids and Ultimate-X...

* * *

_**Aspencade Fortress,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**May 30, ZAC 2121**_

The next two weeks were pure torture for Saskia. Her work demanded her brawn and her brain to be present at the hangar at all times, but all she could think of was that dragon-esque zoid in the cave. Sergeant Serow worked her like a mule at least 10 hours a day, but she waited patiently for her shift to end, so she could go back to the cave and explore more. Her free time disappeared in the library, accessing as much information as she could. Oddly enough, out of hundreds of zoid types she pulled out from library database, none looked like the one she found in the cave. She was still as clueless as when she first found the zoid. And being clueless made her mad.

At times she felt that she was pissing into the wind, and a couple times she decided to tell Serow about it. But something inside prevented her from giving up the zoid to Helic Military. There was no doubt the zoid could fly, and those rocket boosters meant it flew either exceptionally fast or exceptionally high. It might be her only ticket to hit the sky and make her dreams come true.

Her tireless effort to unveil the zoid's identity met dead end, but there was one place she had not searched: Helic Military database. She did search it a couple times, but her security clearance blocked her from accessing confidential files. She needed higher security clearance. Unfortunately she wouldn't get it anytime soon.

The only other option was to use somebody else's.

"Sarge, I think I am going to work overtime this weekend," Saskia said one day, when most of the technicians had gone home. "I really want to finish this _Raynos_."

Tech Sergeant Serow, already changed his jumpsuit to civilian outfit, shot a dubious stare at her. "You've been working 12 hours today, Leewenhoek, and this is already weekend. We're not in a hurry with that _Raynos_. Finish it next week."

"I have nothing to do this weekend, Sir. I just thought I had better work than do nothing at the barrack."

Serow came at her, still with skeptical look in his face. "Nobody works on weekends!" he snarled. "Why can't you go to town like anybody else? Get drunk, get laid, win some money, or whatever? Who are you trying to impress? Are you trying to get Major Diavel's attention, so he would put you back in the roster?"

"No, Sir. I am not trying to impress anybody. I just want to accomplish something." She paused briefly, gathering thoughts and reasoning that might soften the old cranky tech sergeant. "I am behind in this job, Sir. I did not have any former experience with zoid engineering like Huy and Hotep. I don't want to be a burden for them and for you. So I thought if I could work on weekends I would catch up with everybody else."

Serow grumbled unintelligibly, weighing in her reasoning, then decided he would grant her wish. "Fine."

"But I don't have access to this building. Can I use yours during weekend?"

Serow drew his card key and threw it at her. "Here. No more than 6 hours a day during weekend."

"Thank you, Sir." Saskia went back to the _Raynos_ she had been working on all week, feigning work until Serow disappeared from her sight. She closed the hangar's door, locked it, then slipped into Serow's office. The old cranky sergeant was too lazy to log off his computer. Saskia's hands shook as she grabbed the mouse. She clicked the button and the holoprojector at the middle of the table sprang to life. A 3-D hologram appeared, hanging above the table, illuminating the dark room.

The hologram showed the main screen of Helic Republic database. Saskia navigated through a mnemonic of sites until she came to the zoids archive. A long list of zoid stats and specs flashed in front of her eyes, highlighting all military zoids, both Helic and Guylos, from the beginning of zoids era to the most current, complete with variants and modifications. Saskia had seen this list many times. She knew how they looked like. She worked on some of them, knew them inside out, knew how they operated, and knew how to fix them. The one she was looking for was not in this list.

At the bottom of the list there was another link to "Old Zoids Archive". She navigated to that site and prompted to a security clearance window. She took a deep breath and scanned Serow's key card on the scanner. The computer bleeped, then a different screen appeared, showing her a short list of zoid names she had never seen before. She clicked on "Pictures", and the schematic picture of each zoid appeared on top of each name. And yes, there, her elusive four-legged winged dragon, popped up on top of the name _Gilvader_.

Saskia's heart almost stopped beating.

Hesitantly she navigated to the _Gilvader's_ specs, and the picture blew up, showing the monstrous design with its physical statistics. The total length from snout to the tip of the tail was in excess of 120 feet. Its wingspan was more than 100 feet. It tipped the scale at 330 tons, more than 3 times as bulky as a _Salamander_. The Magnesser System alone wouldn't be able to lift up such a massive weight, so the _Gilvader_ was equipped with 6 rocket boosters. The combination of Magnesser System and jet propulsion propelled the _Gilvader_ into a massive flying platform, and Saskia couldn't believe her eyes when she read the maximum speed…

_Mach 4.0_.

At Mach 4, the _Gilvader_ would outrun virtually anything in Planet Zi. No flying zoid that Saskia knew was able to reach Mach 4, with the exception of the ultra-rare _Storm Sworder FX_. The rocket boosters also enabled the _Gilvader_ to do exo-atmospheric flight. That was one hell of a defensive mechanism since no other zoid could reach this zone.

But of course, zoids were not built around defense, so Saskia was curious to see how the _Gilvader_ would do offensively. She navigated to weapon link, and the hologram switched to a schematic diagram of _Gilvader's_ arsenal. Again, she had to hold her breath upon seeing the mechanical dragon mounted four Gravity Cannons as the primary weapons. Although not as big as the _Ultrasaurus_ version, one Gravity Cannon could knock out a large-sized zoid in one strike. These lethal weapons were backed up with four Beam Smashers, two on its wings, two on its back. The buzzsaw-like weapons also served as another defensive mechanism: when operated at a certain rpm, they would create a sonic shield around the zoid that could repel almost any weapon. On the neck, the _Gilvader_ carried 10 Needle Cannons, and on its chest 4 Plasma Cannons. The Maser horn, Maser tail blades, and hardened-alloy teeth and claws acted as the last resource if everything else failed.

With such deadly armament, Saskia wondered why no record of _Gilvader_ was found in public domain. She found the answer when she navigated to the history of the zoid. The _Gilvader_ was actually a Guylos design. In early ZAC 2050's Helic Republic was winning the war, and so they invaded the Dark Continent with their new designs, _Salamander F2_ and the _Madthunder_ (the latter being the arc-nemesis of the _Death Saurer_). Desperate, Guylos Empire deployed its latest weapon, the _Gilvader_. A single _Gilvader_ wiped out the entire division of _Salamander F2_. A squadron of _Gilvaders_ massacred a platoon of _Madthunders_ at the Devil's Maze, using its unmatched speed and deadly Gravity Cannons. With such heavy losses, Helic Republic had no choice but to withdraw from Dark Continent, and _Gilvaders_ continued their unstoppable rampage toward Helic City, until they were halted by Helic's sheer dumb luck named _Orudios_. All survivors were supposedly lost in Meteor Cataclysm in ZAC2056, and nobody had ever seen or heard about _Gilvader_ in 65 years.

Apparently, one of them survived the meteor hail.

With such a dark history, Saskia understood that Helic Military didn't want many to learn about _Gilvader's_ existence. Perhaps the trauma still lingered on a lot of people who had to deal with the killer zoid first hand. Or perhaps the fear of losing the _Gilvader_ to a mad terrorist – like Hiltz – and being used as a weapon of mass destruction prompted the Republic to simply erase the record of _Gilvader_ from public domain. Or maybe it was the shame of losing the _Madthunder_, Helic's largest zoid in history, in the hands of the _Gilvader_.

So now she, as a soldier of Helic Military, had the obligation to report the zoid to her superior. But every time she went back to the _Gilvader_'s specs and saw how fast the monster could fly, she changed her mind. Her imagination lit up with images of her zipping between clouds, zigzagging through narrow passes of the mountain, or just blasting above the vast stretch of the ocean, where all she could see was the horizon.

In the end, her desire to fly trumped her logic and sense of responsibility. She just had to fly. _What would it hurt? It's not like I'm turning it into another Death Saurer_, she thought as she downloaded as much information as she could find from the database, then closed out the computer. She made sure that nobody was in the hangar to watch her, then sneaked through the back door and returned to her barrack.

"I will revive the _Gilvader_," she said mutedly as she looked at the stars and the twin moon of Zi before going into her barrack. "And I will fly with it."


	9. Chapter 8 - Too Close to Home

**EIGHT**

**TOO CLOSE TO HOME**

_**New Helic City,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**June 14, ZAC 2121**_

Major Diavel's deep slumber was cut short by a vicious alarm blast.

"What's going on?" he punched his comset in disgust, connecting him to the ready room. "This is Major Diavel, all hands report!"

"Code Red, Code Red, distress signal from Romeo City!" a tactical officer filled him in. "We have Ranger Sigma in the vicinity, but somehow the Guardian Forces know it! They're gunning for the kill!"

Diavel's felt his throat clenched. Ranger Sigma was Secret Service's callsign for the President's immediate family. The fact that the Guardian Force knew the exact location of the President's family members could only mean one thing: there was a leak inside Helic Military. But it was the least of Diavel's concern.

"Give me General Krauser! Now!" he yelled into the comset as he slipped into his jumpsuit.

"Sir… we can't locate General Krauser," the tac officer came back with a hint of tension in his voice.

"What? How come?" Diavel sprinted toward the hangar. "How far is the closest air unit to Romeo City?"

"Task Force Juliet Tango is twenty minutes away…"

"Redirect Juliet Tango to Romeo City! I don't care what they're doing; I want them in Romeo City in 15 minutes! And give me the Secret Service! I wanna rip their heads off if they are being sloppy!"

Diavel ran like a maniac, barging into the hangar screaming almost unintelligibly, and climbed into his _Salamander_ as fast as he could. The _Salamander_ picked up Diavel's sense of urgency, and as soon as he got himself strapped in the cockpit, the hundred-ton zoid took off and clambered up the red dawn sky.

"This is Blue Streak to all available units," Diavel roared into his comset. "We have Top A-1 priority at Romeo City! Disengage whatever you are doing and make your best speed to Romeo City! Kill any Guardian Force upon visual contact! I repeat… kill any Guardian Force at first sight!" He switched to a different frequency. "Thunder Two Alpha, this is Blue Streak. Did you find General Krauser?"

"Negative, Sir, General Krauser is still missing."

"Inform the President and get him to the _Ultrasaurus_, just in case," Diavel sighed in exasperation. Two seemingly impossible scenarios happened at the same time: the Guardian Force pinpointed the location of the President's immediate family, and General Krauser couldn't be accessed. Something told him that the two connected with each other. If he didn't know Krauser well, he would've accused Krauser for orchestrating this security debacle. But he knew Krauser for a long time. The good general was the last in his list of people that bore the responsibility of security breach like this.

The _Salamander_ zipped through the cloud toward Romeo City, sandwiched by dozens of _Raynos_ and _Pteras_. Smoke twirled in the distance, giving Diavel goosebumps. As he came closer to the city, the scene of carnage became imminent. Romeo City had turned into a battlefield. Various land zoids laid siege to the mid-sized town, shelling buildings with missiles and laser weapons. Civilians streamed out of the city from every corner. A few Helic aerial zoids tried to mount counter-attack, but they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of the Guardian Force.

"Blue Streak, this is Thunder Two Alpha. Secret Service is online."

"Patch them through," Diavel replied as he brought his _Salamander_ to circle Romeo City. "Secret Service, this is Blue Streak. What is your sitrep?"

"Blue Streak, this is Red Corvette. The 'package' is still intact, but not for long."

"You have a leak, Red Corvette. Somebody in your rank gave up your location to the Guardian Force."

"We follow Standard Operating Procedure every step of the way!" the Secret Service agent huffed. "Perhaps you should look in the mirror before accusing somebody of being lazy!"

Diavel came close to blasting the Secret Service for his incompetence, but it could wait. First thing first, the 'package' had to get cleared from the Guardian Force. "Red Corvette, request advice on possible exit door."

"Third and Main, Quadrant B-5, blow a hole! We will rendezvous at Nav Point Epsilon. I am sending the coordinate to you."

As soon as the designated points sprung on Diavel's ovherhead map, he sent them to his subordinates. "All hands, engage all Guardian Force units on Quadrant B-5! Shoot to kill… I repeat, shoot to kill!"

Two dozen _Raynos_ and _Pteras_ dove onto the streets of Romeo City and engaged various Guardian Force zoids. Diavel spotted a sneaking _Heldigunner_, trying to snipe a Helic _Shield Liger_ behind the cover of a squat supermarket building. The _Salamander's_ Phalanx blitzed furiously, raining down armor-piercing shells onto the _Heldigunner_. The metal iguana screeched as depleted-uranium shells pierced its rear armor. It jumped on top of the supermarket building then unleashed a murderous salvo from its cannon trio on its back, but Diavel pulled up a barrel roll, missing the counter attack by a mere inch.

Flying upside down, Diavel hammered the supermarket's pillars with his lasers. The laser bolts speared into the concrete walls, weakening the structures. Pressured by an additional 48-ton _Heldigunner_, the supermarket collapsed, and the metal iguana succumbed into a concrete sink. It writhed and trashed around, kicking up debris and dust, trying to free itself from the well. Diavel hovered above the supermarket wreck, grabbed the _Heldigunner_ by the shoulder, then heaved it up to the sky. Reaching 100 feet above the ground, he threw the _Heldigunner_ at another building. Glass splinters, metal debris, and interior furniture geysered into the open as the _Heldigunner_ crashed into a gawky office building. Tons of concrete buried the zoid but only momentarily. The powerful zoid started its way out of the rubbles, clawing its way into the open.

Diavel hovered a few dozen feet away from the trapped _Heldigunner_ and fired everything he had. Missiles, armor-piercing shells, laser bolts, and plasma stream from the _Salamander's_ mouth, all blended into one gigantic fireball that consumed the _Heldigunner_ to the very core. A thick plume of smoke rose from the wreckage, a sure sign that the _Heldigunner_ would not return to the fray.

But Diavel's victory was short-lived. Before he could even take a breath of triumph, the _Salamander_ screeched in agony. Sparks and smoke gushed from a bad gash on the _Salamander's_ left shoulder. Diavel turned his zoid around to face the threat, but instead faced off with a dozen missiles. He jerked his joystick behind and slammed his foot on the pedal, but it was all too late. The missiles stabbed the _Salamander_ all over its body. Every sting burnt with explosions. Burning armor chunks sprayed every which way. The _Salamander_, smoking, bleeding fire from every body parts, slammed into the ground. The plexiglass canopy shattered into jagged-edged splinters, ripping Diavel's face with vengeful force.

Wincing in pain, Diavel pushed his joystick, bringing his _Salamander_ to rise. His radar picked up his sniper's signature, and underneath the blood-soaked HUD sprang a picture of a _Heavy-Arms Konig Wolf_, standing pompously with its long-barreled sniper rifles trained at his direction.

_Sonofabitch! How the hell did the Guardian Force get access to rare zoid like Heavy-Arms Konig Wolf? _Diavel mused exasperatedly. The only place he ever saw one was at Helic Military headquarters. More and more he believed that the Guardian Force had assistance from somebody inside the Helic Military. It was the only explanation he could muster to explain the two impossibilities.

But he had no time to ponder for more. The _Konig Wolf's_ sniper rifles flashed again, and only the _Salamander's_ intuitive jerk saved both of them from fatality. The _Konig Wolf's_ missile pods roared, and Diavel's proximity alarm barreled out a desperate scream. Diavel pushed his joystick as hard as he could, forcing his smoking _Salamander_ to dive behind a building. The missiles tore the building apart, and raised a cloud of smoke and debris as it came uproariously down. Diavel maneuvered his battered _Salamander_ through the thick haze.

But the _Konig Wolf_ latched on to him for the kill. It burst through the cloud, gun blazing. Diavel banked hard to the right, and the building in front of him exploded, victimized by the furious assault of the _Konig Wolf's_ sniper rifles. He turned hard left, putting another building between his _Salamander_ and the _Konig Wolf_, but that building, too, crumbled in a blaze.

"Mayday, mayday, this is Blue Streak," Diavel called for reinforcement. "My zoid is hurt, and I have a _Heavy-Arms Konig Wolf_ on my six! Need immediate assistance!"

"Blue Streak, this is Jehovah," somebody answered his distress call. "Bring the asshole to me!" A large - very large – blue dot came up on his radar as he zigzagged his way around buildings, the _Konig Wolf _in hot pursuit. _Jehovah_ – that was the callsign for Helic Republic's presidential _Ultrasaurus_. A wicked grin sprung on his lips.

"Jehovah, it's coming your way," Diavel turned toward the giant blue dot's direction. Clearing a short building, he came face to face with the monstrous _Ultrasaurus_, dropping its quartet Super Cannons. He yanked his joystick behind, taking his _Salamander_ to soar above the massive zoid, then watched in glee as the _Konig Wolf_ cleared the short building, right in front of the _Ultrasaurus_.

The _Konig Wolf_ pulled all the breaks and skid on the hard plastered road, just as the _Ultrasaurus_ fired two of its Super Cannons. The sound of the blasts rattled the buildings, and the explosions afterward destroyed windows of buildings in the immediate vicinity. A dazzling, split-second dash from the _Konig Wolf_ saved it from total destruction, but the pilot decided not to contest the _Ultrasaurus'_ reign of the battlefield. It turned around and sped away from the monster zoid.

"Much appreciated, Jehovah," Diavel glided over the _Ultrasaurus_ and tipped his wings in appreciation. The arrival of Helic Republic's flagship zoid quickly turned the course of the battle. The Guardian Force inched away from the city and started turning back. Within half an hour, Romeo City was occupied by nothing but Helic Republic zoids.

Diavel glided over the stricken city for a while, waiting until everything settled down, then landed next to the _Ultrasaurus_. President Bonneville had already climbed down the _Ultrasaurus_, engaging a heated argument with a girl – his daughter. She was of petite stature, standing only at the shoulder of her father, with long brown hair and eyes that burst energy strong enough to tame a wild zoid.

"Someday you have to accept the fact that you are not just a teenager!" the president fired a stern scolding at the girl, who looked at him with as much venom as he gave her. "You are my daughter, and you are the paradigm upon which every teenager in the Helic Republic will look! Your lifestyle is the beacon of lifestyles all around the Republic, and you are setting the bar on how a teenager takes up responsibilities! And what have you done? Shopping? Wasting money? Wasting time?"

"I am your daughter and someday you have to accept the fact that you have a daughter!" the girl returned fire. "You are not the only one who has a life! I have a life, I love my life, and I will not let my life be disturbed by your political thing-a-ma-bob and skirmish gallore!"

"We are in a state of war, Mio! Your shopping spree makes it difficult for me to do my job!"

"Are you saying I can't have a life of my own because of your job?"

"Don't' take that tone to me young lady! I will not tolerate an ingrate person in my family, especially one that's my own flesh and blood!"

"If you so much disparage my lifestyle, why bother come here and save it?"

Not knowing what to do, Diavel waited until the argument reached the point the president couldn't stand anymore, then came to Bonneville's presence as the president brusquely rushed back to the _Ultrasaurus_.

"Thank you, Major," the president grunted angrily. "Thank you for saving my daughter from the Guardian Force, because I want to kill her with my own hand!"

Diavel replied with a small courtesy nod. As the president climbed his _Ultrasaurus_, Diavel went to check on the president's daughter. She was obviously upset. The Secret Service tried to defuse her, but it was clear they didn't do a good job.

"Are you alright, Ma'am?" Diavel said gently.

"Don't Ma'am me!" she spat out bile in her response. "I have a name, and it's Mio! Why can't any goon of my father's call me with my own name?"

"As you wish, Mio Ma'am… Miss…" Diavel was taken aback by her outburst. "But for your own sake, perhaps it's best to stay covered behind the wall of New Helic City. The Guardian Force apparently has access to your activities, and they will find opportunities to hurt you to stagger your father."

"I am not a prisoner of my father!" Mio snapped. "You can have your conflict. I will not be a part of it!"

Diavel was about to open his mouth, but Mio turned her back at him and went into her car. Diavel could only sigh. She obviously inherited the stubbornness from her father. He went to half a dozen Secret Services that were covering her from every angle. "Red Corvette?"

"Blue Streak?" a bald man in dark outfit stepped out. "Thank you for your support."

"Keep her inside New Helic City at all times!" Diavel wasted no time to confront him. "If I ever find her outside New Helic City again, I will court-martial your ass personally!"


	10. Chapter 9 - All Roads Lead to Helic City

**NINE**

**ALL ROADS LEAD TO NEW HELIC CITY**

**Review Corner**: Thank you very much, my lone reviewer **randomcat23**. I did design Saskia to be a bit… uhm, devious. I hope you don't think less of her. More of her deviousness in this chapter.

So I guess we have gone past the introduction part of the story. From this point on there will be more zoid actions.

* * *

_**Aspencade Fortress,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**July 3, ZAC 2121**_

"Saskia! I need my monkey wrench!"

Hotep's voice sorted through power-drill whirrs and electric-weld crackles, and jabbed Saskia's eardrums as she was working on a damaged _Command Wolf_. It was timed in such a way that all power tools and generators were shut down, so Saskia could hear every word. And she was not happy about it. It was not _his_ wrench. It was Helic Republic's property. All tools and materials in the hangar belonged to Helic Republic. They were purchased with Republic's money.

"I am still using it! Can you use something else?"

"You took it from my toolbox, dammit! Now give it back!"

There it was again, _my toolbox_. It was Helic's toolbox. Nobody should've laid claim to it. It wasn't even assigned to him. He just happened to grab the toolbox in the morning, and Saskia just happened to grab a toolbox without a monkey wrench so she had to hijack Hotep's.

But for the sake of avoiding confrontation, Saskia just let it go.

Walking along the large hangar, Saskia wondered why such a trivial matter aggravated her. Perhaps it was because the attack on the President's daughter put everybody in alert mode. Perhaps it was because the Helic Military - fueled by the attack on the President's daughter - decided to upgrade most zoids to prepare for more attacks. Or perhaps it was because the workload skyrocketed so that everybody had to work overtime, under pressure, and more often than not Saskia was too beat up to visit the _Gilvader_ and plan for its revival. Perhaps it was her _Gilvader_ and the lack of meeting that made her belligerent.

There, she said it. _Her Gilvader_. As if it was her own…

"Here!" Saskia curtly handed in the monkey wrench to Hotep. "Happy now?"

"I can use some extra hands here," Hotep grabbed the wrench but ignored Saskia's irritated barb. "Can you help me for five minutes?"

Saskia sighed. She had her own deadline. Five minutes with Hotep would come out of her own time. And it wouldn't be five minutes. Hotep needed some serious help. Everybody did. But even if she didn't help Hotep, she wouldn't meet her deadline. Both of them would be late, and both of them would get an ass-chew from Tech Sergeant Serow. She was screwed either way, so why not go down in righteousness?

"What do you need?" Saskia decided to lend a hand.

"Grab this armor piece here, will you?" Hotep guided her to position the armor plating the way he wanted it. "I'll tell you, this is villainy, and just plain unfair. Just because some rich brat wants to hang out outside Helic City and throw money down the drain doesn't mean we have to work like horses. If that's the way she chooses to die, let her die alone! We shouldn't be responsible for her negligent behavior!"

"We are at the bottom of the pecking order, Hotep," Saskia replied unenthusiastically. "We will be responsible for anything and everything. One irresponsible person needs dozens of hard-working, responsible individuals to work their asses off so he or she can live his irresponsible life. Such wretched is life, but it is life.

"But come to think of it, we benefit much from it don't we? Without this influx of work, we're still The Wrecking Team. Serow won't let us touch a zoid without his supervision. But look at us now. We can work on a zoid alone, from start to finish. We develop skills to work on the mechanics of zoids. That's quite an accomplishment, right?"

Hotep scoffed. "Yeah? Then what? Working as a mechanic for 15 hours a day so the President's daughter can laze in the sun all day? How are we not slaves to the Helic Republic?"

"I don't know. I can't tell you how to live your life."

"If I don't know you better, I think you start to like it here."

Saskia shrugged. "Maybe. It's not what I envisioned my life would be but at least I learn something."

If that was not a good thing for Hotep, it sure was a good thing for Saskia. The overwhelming work load prompted Tech Sergeant Serow to "promote" Hotep, Huy, and Saskia to full technician, despite his own objection. Saskia grabbed this opportunity to learn the mechanics of zoids: how they lived, how they interacted with humans, how they gained energy through the core, how the core pulsed life into weapons, and how she could fix weapons and armor. The torturous work hours gave her a means to pursue her dream.

"What the hell happens to the monkey wrenches?" Huy popped up out of nowhere and grabbed Hotep's wrench. "Did you take mine?"

"Hey, hey, that's mine! Give it back!" Hotep jumped off his bench and grabbed the other end of the wrench as if his life depended on it. "Why can't you get something else?"

"Why can't _you_ get something else?" Huy fastened his grip on the tool. "I have been using it all morning and now it's gone!"

"I have been using it all morning and now you're taking it!" Hotep screamed. "Give it back, you…"

Saskia didn't stay long to see the outcome. She just left the two friends crabbing and swearing for the 'ownership' of the monkey wrench, and went back to her work.

* * *

_**New Helic City,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**August 14, ZAC 2121**_

Armed with her newfound skill set, reinforced with the data she downloaded from Serow's computer, Saskia mapped out the parts she needed to put the _Gilvader_ back into working condition. The zoid was in horrible condition; it needed 60-percent of its armor. Nobody in Helic Republic sold _Gilvader's_ armor, so she had to lay out the blueprint for each armor plating. She would have to bring them to a blacksmith and had them made. Her other choice was to travel to Guylos Empire and buy them there, but she couldn't cover for the travel cost. Besides, with the security running extremely high due to recent conflicts with the Guardian Force, travelling to the Empire would raise immediate red flags.

The _Gilvader's_ internal components were mostly intact, so Saskia was lucked out there. Whatever the zoid went through, the armor stopped it from destroying the delicate machinery. The core, however, was badly damaged. It had barely enough power to feed the zoid's component from dying, putting the zoid in a 'coma'. This would be the hardest part to tackle. Saskia had to find another core, but with the size of the zoid, it would be difficult to find a core that large. Next best thing was to fix the core with whatever she could salvage.

The Needle Guns and Plasma Cannons seemed to be in working condition. All Gravity Cannons were gone. So were the Beam Smashers. Fortunately, a local trader owned the Gravity Cannons and some duke or count in the Eastern Continent had the Beam Smashers as his personal collection.

But those could wait. First, the armor. There was a good blacksmith at New Helic City that had been building high-grade customized zoid armor platings. The fee was expensive, but Saskia had some plans to pay it off. Her savings could cover more or less half of the fee. She had to 'snake' her way around for the rest.

So one weekend she traveled t1`o New Helic City to visit the blacksmith. The main office was just a small room in a skyscraper right at downtown. It was nice that, after spending many weekends in a dark cave, she got to see modern civilization and technology. The tall building stood by the river, and Saskia spent half an hour sitting by the water, doing nothing but to immerse herself in the comforting melody of the river flow.

Getting into the office, a young man greeted her and asked her about her intention. Saskia drew a hologram player and showed him the blueprint of a piece of the _Gilvader's_ armor. The man squinted, then engrossed himself in his computer for ten excruciating minutes. Not satisfied with what he could find, he engaged a phone conversation with somebody, shooting quick smiles at Saskia once in a while. After 15 torturous minutes, he hung up and went inside, leaving Saskia on the lobby.

A significantly older man came out, inspected the hologram, then looked at Saskia with a baffled stare.

"Where does this piece come from?" he mumbled. "_Liger Zero Schneider_?"

"No, a custom zoid," Saskia fibbed. The older man didn't even know what piece of armor it was, so she didn't see the reason to tell him the truth, lest she just opened a can of worm. "I am _zoid bashing_. This new zoid is based off a _Barigator_ with some taste of Guylos design. That's why it needs to be painted black."

"_Barigator_?" the old man pulled up a schematic of a _Barigator_ and tried to fit the piece to the zoid, but it matched nothing. "Doesn't look like it comes from a _Barigator_."

"Because it doesn't," Saskia swallowed. The spiky _Gilvader's_ armor started to draw attention, and it was the last thing she wanted. "_Barigator_ is just the inspiration. My zoid will not look like a _Barigator._"

"I would say," the old man mumbled again. He pulled all blueprints to get a picture of what he was dealing with, and whistled in awe when he got a rough idea of how big it was going to be. "This is some serious beast you are building. Do you have a rough sketch or anything?"

"No, just an estimation. It'll be around 95 to 100 ton, much bigger than the original _Barigator_."

The old man sat on his chair, scribbled something on a piece of paper, then showed Saskia a number with a lot of digits. "This job will need a lot of manpower and a lot of material. We can do it, but it won't be soon. Of course, if you want it faster and cheaper, we can thin out a lot of parts…"

"No, stick to the blueprint," Saskia cut him off.

"Look, for 100-ton zoid, you're better off with thinner armor. Your zoid will move like a sloth carrying these heavy chunks of armor, unless you are building a _Grade-Up_ zoid like the _King Gojulas_."

"Not an option. I want the pieces just like shown on the blueprints."

"Do you want to pay this much?"

Saskia took a deep breath before answering, "I have a quarter of that amount in cash. But I am a zoid mechanic for Helic Military. To cover the rest of the cost, I will upgrade your zoids. Your zoids will be stronger, faster, and more efficient."

The old man sniggered. "We have 8 _Godos_ working as heavy lifters at the plant. What are you going to do with them? Put guns on them? We can do it ourselves!"

"Civilian _Godos_ is a detuned version of military _Godos_," Saskia replied halfheartedly. "I can return your _Godos_ to their military performance. They will be 15 percent stronger and at least 20 percent faster than the current specs. Imagine how much money you can save a year with such increased performance."

"Is it legal?"

"As far as I know there is no restriction on how powerful your zoid can be," Saskia mused. "As long as they are not used as weapons, you can have them as strong and as fast as you want."

"And those are all for free?"

"In exchange for the armor pieces, built and primed just as shown in the blueprint."

The old man looked at her with doubtful stare, as if he didn't believe that Saskia had the qualification (and authority) to do what she mentioned. But he couldn't just pass up the offer. If she was telling the truth, then the company would benefit in the millions.

"Let me talk to my supervisor," the old man went inside. Ten minutes later, he came out carrying a large pile of paper. His stare was still dubious, but by the way he handled the pile of paper, Saskia knew she got herself a deal.

"Let's do the paperwork," the old man said as he handed Saskia the top piece of paper.


	11. Chapter 10 - Alamo, Part I

**TEN**

**ALAMO, PART I**

_**Aspencade Fortress,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**August 15, ZAC 2121**_

It was way past midnight when Saskia came back from New Helic City, and she barely closed her eyes for an hour when the alarm screamed bloody murder. Her logic dictated that it was just a routine drill, but the thought quickly tapered off when a series of explosions rattled the barrack. Curses quickly dispersed into panic babbles when anti-zoid cannons barked, filling the night with blitzing light and rhythmical blasts. Air-raid sirens wailed like banshees, and emergency strobes blinked in furious pace.

"All hands! Man your battle stations! This is not a drill… repeat, this is not a drill! We are under attack!"

Saskia stepped outside, and a horrifying scene greeted her. A few buildings were already on fire. Cannons and machine guns roared, spitting fire into the dark of night, eager to hit something but more often than not just wasting ammunition. Zoids rolled out from the hangar but quickly cut off by streams of missiles and laser bolts coming from phantom attackers. Shouts of men blended with cries of zoids and explosive booms.

Yet, in all this carnage, Saskia didn't see the enemies.

A _Pteras_ took off from a hangar but two missiles ripped its chest open as it barely left the ground. Half of its left wing disintegrated in a murderous fireball. The _Pteras_ screeched as it spun out of control, then rammed itself into a barrack directly in front of Saskia's. Half of the barrack's tenants were still inside fighting to get out when the _Pteras_ dove headlong into it. Metal and concrete bits filled the air, seconds before the _Pteras_ erupted, spitting charred splinters like spores. The shockwave knocked Saskia back inside her barrack, flat on her back.

"Get out of this place!" somebody took charge of the situation. "Get on your feet and run, soldiers! Out out out!"

Rubbing her head, Saskia rose to her feet and jumped out of a window. She sprinted toward the hangar, dodging zoids that stampeded out to defend the base. Technicians and pilots ran in and out of zoids, and zoids growled and grunted in impatience. Tools clattered everywhere. Elbows and knees nicked her body as she stepped in. Her friend Huy and Hotep were already working like a couple maniacs, trying to release as many zoids as possible.

"Who did this?" Saskia grabbed some wrenches and made her way to a _Gorheck_.

"Who else?" Huy snapped as he ran a final check on a _Gun Sniper_. "It's that elitist, Hollier-than-Thou Guardian Force, that's who!"

"But why? Why all this deaths and bloodshed? Why Aspencade?"

"Who cares? Get that _Gorheck_ out of here to fight or we're all gonna eat Guardian Force lead!"

It was, indeed, rather incomprehensible. Then again, all violence instigated by the Guardian Force didn't make any sense. Attacking the President's daughter? Attacking Aspencade Fortress? Attacking Helic convoys? What did they want, exactly? What were they fighting for? If they just disagreed with General Krauser's proposal, this bloody hostility was not the best way to demonstrate their cause.

Or was she missing something?

The _Gorheck_ pilot slid into the cockpit with ease, and Saskia helped him with his straps. He was just a kid, not much older than herself, and she caught a glimpse of nervousness in his eyes. Saskia couldn't blame him. It was a massacre out there, with mostly young and inexperienced Helic zoids were being cut off by the veteran Guardian Force. Some hadn't even shot their guns.

"The _Gorheck_ can feel your anxiety, Sir," Saskia tried to calm him down. "Be strong and be brave. Give him your confidence."

The _Gorheck_ pilot nodded shortly, then closed the canopy. Saskia gave him a thumbs up before retracting the escalator and all restrains. The _Gorheck_ made a short guttural sound before breaking into a small gallop toward the exit door.

But before it got too far, a massive zoid blocked the exit door. Its dark red eyes contrasted the dark night outside, and its white body shimmered in the dimly-lit hangar. A Guardian Force emblem was engraved on its hips. It took Saskia a second to recognize the _Heavy-Arms Konig Wolf_, a rare zoid that existed only at the top echelon of Helic Military.

The _Gorheck_ roared and trained its double cannons at the _Konig Wolf_, but the white canine blasted its twin rifles on its back. The _Gorheck_ was stopped dead on its track. Its crystal fins flew every which way as its thick dorsal hide breached. Its short stocky legs wobbled. Smoke billowed from nasty gash on the hump, and coolant and gear fluid oozed like blood.

The _Gorheck_ tried to steady its feet for a fight, but the _Konig Wolf_ opened all launchers and fired a deadly missile barrage, dead center. The _Gorheck_ sank into a haze of flame and smoke before disintegrated, hurling burning splinters to every corner of the hangar. Ammunition boxes and fuel conduits exploded, filling the hangar with flames.

A large chunk of _Gorheck_ spun out of control and hammered the _Gun Sniper_ Huy was working on. The Velociraptor-like machine twisted out of its balance and came tumbling down, taking Huy with it. Huy didn't even have a chance to scream when the entire 20-tons of metal came crashing down on him.

"Huy! Oh My God! Huy!" Saskia ran toward the fallen _Gun Sniper_, but before she got to it, the _Heavy-Arms_ _Konig Wolf_ let loose another missile salvo, sweeping the floor and the _Gun Sniper_ with high-explosive ordnances. The _Gun Sniper_ erupted like a volcano, and burning splinters whizzed to every direction.

"He's dead, Leewenhoek!" Sergeant Serow yelled from behind a fire wall. "Get out of here! Go! Go! Go!"

"Nothing we can do to help him, Saskia," Hotep grabbed her hand and towed her toward the exit. "We have to get out of here."

Saskia took one last look at the marauding _Heavy-Arms Konig Wolf_. Its eyes glowed red, almost like in satisfaction, as it marveled its scorching handiwork. The fire had spread to the ceiling, and cranes started falling off. With one eerie howl the _Konig Wolf_ backed off the hangar.

"Let's go, dammit!" Hotep yanked her arm, forcing her to stand up and gallop behind him. They followed a dozen other technicians to the rear exit which had not been overrun by fire. But burning cranes on the ceiling lost their supports and crumbled down, treading the technicians in a burning pile. Hotep could only look up in anguish as a large metal beam, burning from end to end, pelted him with enormous force.

"Oh Sweet Jesus!" Saskia cried, watching the large beam buried Hotep's body under its fiery hulk. She tried to reach to him, but more burning parts fell down from the ceiling, prompting her with the realization that she was alone, and she wouldn't be for long if she didn't get out of the hangar.

Tears streaming down her face – from losing her colleagues and the acrid, blinding smoke – Saskia ran out of the building, seconds before the huge hangar collapsed into a pit of flame. Tongues of fire rose up to the dark sky as they joined a dozen other bonfires from demolished buildings and bunkers all around the base.

Resistance was fierce but futile. Republic zoids came out one after another, but quickly fell from overwhelming firepower of the Guardian Force. _Pteras_ and _Raynos_ fell out of the sky like leaves in autumn. Cannons and machine guns barked furiously, but one by one they fell silent. Nobody in the Republic side had enough skill to answer the Guardian Force swift attacks. The rookies just came out squandering their lives.

And the ten glorious Gravity Cannons were completely useless.

A loud, sickening creak stopped Saskia from her track. The support for one of the Gravity Cannons crumbled under the assault of two Guardian Force zoids. The long tube rolled off its hinge, crushing base of the Gravity Cannon next to it. The shrill of twisted metal stabbed her eardrums, so loud she thought she was going deaf. Broken parts raced toward her with vengeance, and it took every bit of her physical prowess to evade the charging pieces.

With raging fire all around the fortress and zoids treading the ground obliviously, Saskia scrambled the ground until she found a hole in the crumbling wall of the fortress. She slipped outside, then ran as fast as she could toward her cave, never looking back. The enraged explosions lit her way to the cave, and once she reached her sanctuary she cowered behind the _Gilvader's_ massive claws, crying, praying, waiting for an absolution that may or may never come. She had never been so alone, so scared in her entire life. And the scenes of death would be hard to be erased from her memory for a long time.


	12. Chapter 11 - Alamo, Part II

**ELEVEN**

**ALAMO, PART II**

**Review Corner**: Thank you always **randomcat23** for the reviews. I agree there should be some kind of regulation about what kind of zoid somebody could own, but the Battle Story doesn't mention anything about it, and the anime series doesn't seem to restrict personal zoid except the biggest ones (_Death Saurer_). So I simply follow this trend.

The term 'zoid bashing' is coined from 'kit bashing' which – in essence – mix and matching kit parts to create a new one. It's an allusion to Zoid model kits whose parts are sometimes interchangeable.

In every chapter I add a clue about what is really going on with the Guardian Force. Like in the last chapter, Saskia starts to feel that the violent approach the GF is taking doesn't really go along with the cause it is fighting. So why did it take one direction in politics and another direction in reality, she wonders. Keep looking out for clues like that. If you're really good, you'll be able to put everything together by chapter 20 and find the answer to the GF problem.

Of course, you can always wait until much later when Van, Fiona, Irvine, Moonbay, Herman etc show up to clear the atmosphere, but it'll be a looooooooooooooooooooong way from now…..

In any case, I hope you enjoy everything.

* * *

_**Aspencade Fortress,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**August 15, ZAC 2121**_

The red sky above Aspencade Fortress and the mortal screams of the rookies over the comlink made Diavel's eyes red. The magnificent Helic Gravity Cannons were being rendered useless by flames. Not even a single one of them had a chance to prove its worth since the Guardian Force zoids had came within its minimum range. Cannons and anti-aircraft batteries flickered to die one after another, replaced by fiery ruin. Only a few zoid hangar remained standing. The majority of them had turned into burning wrecks.

Diavel steered his _Salamander_ to circle the fortress, watching helplessly the rookie Helic zoids scrambled out of the hangars, only to be butchered by the Guardian Force. He knew it would happen. It was like General Krauser wished it to happen by retracting the veterans from Aspencade and stuffed new, inexperienced cadets to defend the fortress. He understood Krauser's intention to let Aspencade fall. The stubborn Senate had to feel the gravity of the conflict. But so many lives were wasted just to open the eyes of the Senate. This was genocide, and even though the Guardian Force pulled the trigger, Diavel felt it was his hands that drew the blood from the young cadets.

So now, what was he supposed to do? Defend Aspencade? Was it worth doing, considering it was General Krauser's wish to have the fortress destroyed? Or let the Guardian Force had their way? That didn't sound right either. Diavel was sworn to defend the Helic Republic from all enmity, and an attack to any Republic's asset, no matter how small, was an attack toward Helic Republic as a whole.

"All hands, fire at will," Diavel chose the latter. "Shoot to kill… I repeat, shoot to kill!"

Dozens of veteran pilots in _Raynos_, _Pteras_, and _Storm Sworders_ dove into the heart of the battle and engaged the overwhelming Guardian Force. Diavel glided past a cloud of smoke and came face to face with a _Deadborder_. Fresh from killing a Helic zoid, the _Deaborder_ spread its legs for steady support then fired its Gravity Cannons. Diavel turned half barrel roll and yawed hard right. The hyper-densed Plana-Tellasite shells zipped past his _Salamander_, one under its belly, the other above its head.

The murderous shells exploded midair, half a click away from the fortress. Two miniature black holes emerged, sucking everything that was unlucky enough to be within the vicinity. Several _Raynos_ and _Pteras_ spun right into the holes. Two _Storm Sworders_ fought their way out of the gravity wells, but only one managed to survive. The other broke its wings and drifted hopelessly into one of the holes. Debris, smoke, and flame followed suit, racing into the holes like drones.

Diavel took a deep, long breath as he steered his _Salamander_ to gain altitude, running away from the black holes. As the black holes diminished, Diavel pushed his joystick forward, forcing the _Salamander_ to dive right at the _Deadborder_. It just stood idly, watching the _Salamander_ coming at it full force, for the Gravity Cannons had sucked its energy dry. Laser bolts and Phalanx shells shredded the _Deadborder's_ front armor. The metal Tarbosaur roared and buckled as if its knees turned to mush. The _Salamander_ dashed until it was almost on top of the _Deadborder_, then unleashed its plasma breath. Tongues of flame blasted from the _Deadborder's_ upper torso as the _Salamander_ glided past it.

Blanketed by raging flame didn't deter the _Deadborder_. As the _Salamander_ glided away, the _Deadborder_ fired a laser salvo, peppering the rear end of the flying reptile. A few bolts drilled the _Salamander's_ tail but the hundred-ton flying zoid quickly banked left, away from the _Deadborder's_ line of fire. The _Deadborder_ trailed the _Salamander_ but the _Salamander_ quickly slipped into the _Deadborder's_ blind spot.

Diavel made a loop toward the rear side of the _Deadborder_, then ripped it with his Vulcan Phalanx. Chiseled armor bits whizzed every which way as fire blazed in nightmarish hue. The Gravity Cannon hinges bolted out of the socket, and the fall of the mighty weapon marked the end of the _Deadborder's_ life. It crashed and exploded into a large fireball.

Diavel buried his joystick into his crotch, taking his _Salamander_ into a vertical climb, but oblivious to a _Redler_ coming at him from his blind spot. By the time the _Salamander_ realized what was coming, it was too late. The _Redler_ sank its Strike Laser Claws on the _Salamander's_ back. The _Salamander_'s agonizing cry reverberated throughout the entire fortress as fire bled from the wounds. Diavel wildly yanked his joystick left and right, turning the _Salamander_ into a bucking monster. The _Redler_ tried to hang on but the _Salamander_ was just too big to handle. It slipped from the _Salamander's_ back and scurried away, taking huge chunks of armor in the process.

Diavel knew the odds. The _Redler_ was smaller, faster, and more agile than his _Salamander_. It could, and would, outmaneuver his _Salamander_ at every turn. It already tasted the flesh of his hundred-ton zoid, and it would come back for more blood. The only chance he got against this 'little' pest was to keep it at bay and use long range weapons to shoot it down.

So Diavel painted the _Redler_ with his radar, and when he got a solid missile lock, he fired his tactical missile. The _Redler_ pulled off a wild evasive maneuver, barell-rolling and pitching up and down, crisscrossing its path to throw the missile lock. But Diavel stayed behind the missile, so when the _Redler_ finally disengaged the missile, it fell right into his crosshair. A quick Phalanx burst stunned the _Redler_, and the quad laser bolts perforated the left wing just next to the joint. The _Redler_ screeched and dove, but the _Salamander_ cut it off and nicked the left wing with its tail. Too much pressure breached the wing, and the _Redler_ immediately spiraled out of control.

Diavel watched the _Redler_ crashing down to its fiery end, then took the sky, watching Aspencade Fortress lit up into a charred hulk. The once proud and smug superstructure now lied in ruin. The ten gigantic Gravity Cannons – once the most feared weapon in Planet Zi - didn't even prove their worth. They just crumbled, one on top of another, without even firing their awesome power.

The fact that the mighty cannons failed to prevent the Guardian Force to get into the fortress baffled him. Clearly the radar failed to pick up the enemies until they were too close to the fortress to use the Gravity Cannon. _Why? What happened to the radar? _Surely the Guardian Force was an elite group that knew how to beat the Gravity Cannons. But Aspencade Fortress was equipped with the state-of-the-art radar system that should see the enemies coming. It could not fail. It should not fail. The only possible failure was if it was turned off, or somebody betrayed Helic Republic.

The million-dollar question was: _who would betray Helic Republic?_

"Aspencade, this is Blue Streak," Diavel called for any survivors. "Aspencade, do you read me?"

"All is lost, man!" somebody from the other end lamented. "Everybody's dead!"

"Pull yourself together, Soldier!" Diavel yelled into his comset. "Abandon base! Take every survivor you can find and leave! There's nothing more of this base but debris! Get out and leave! We will cover you!"

Diavel didn't know how many were still inside the fortress, so he glided over the collapsing fortress looking for survivors. Instead he came face to face – again – with the white _Heavy-Arms Konig Wolf_. Its eyes were red with bloodlust, ready to continue their incomplete struggle to the bitter end. And the _Salamander_ recognized it too. The vengeance in its cry was a sure sign of its readiness to dive into savagery with the _Konig Wolf_.

"This time you die, sonofabitch!" Diavel growled as he mashed his trigger. The tactical missile raced toward the _Konig Wolf_ in a long, white trail of smoke. Diavel stayed behind the missile, trying to anticipate the _Konig Wolf'_s evasive maneuver.

The 'Wolf hunched over to bring its sniper rifles to bear, but decided it could not shoot the _Salamander_ and escape the missile. The pilot had to choose, and he chose the latter. The white canine bolted just when the missile slammed into the ground and blasted into a 50-foot radius fireball. The shockwave tossed the 'Wolf's behind and it slipped, skidding on the ground on its butt.

A sadistic grin sprung on Diavel's face as he fired all weapons. Armor-piercing shells and laser strands peppered the 'Wolf from all directions, tossing armor bits to the air like a geyser. Molten slag dripped to the ground like blood, and the 'Wolf roared, spitefully acknowledging Diavel's good shot.

But before Diavel could take a breath of relieve, two of the 'Wolf missile launchers turned 180 degree and fired a missile salvo. Diavel floored his pedal and pulled the joystick hard, taking a sudden climb while the missiles followed him inches away from the _Salamander's_ tail. The G-force almost robbed him from his consciousness, but he hung on, clutching his hands on the joystick although his eyes saw nothing but black. When his vision came back, he cut off the Magnesser System and let the _Salamander_ stall. The missiles passed the flying zoid, then exploded mid air harmlessly.

Falling down freely, Diavel reengaged the Magnesser System and dropped down to inches away from the ground. The 'Wolf tried to shoot him with its twin rifles, but Diavel zigzagged his way, making the 'Wolf miss its shots. The 'Wolf grew impatient and opened all missile boxes. Dozens of armor-piercing warheads lunged at the Salamander in supersonic speed, but Diavel pulled up his zoid at the right time, letting the missiles flew harmlessly under his cockpit.

As the missiles strafed the ground and exploded, Diavel climbed and peppered the 'Wolf. The white canine bolted like a spring, quickly moving away from Diavel's line of fire. Diavel pulled off a half loop backward, but the 'Wolf turned and blasted its rifles. It took Diavel everything he had to dodge that strike, but the _Salamander_ lost control and stalled. Diavel held his joystick hard, but with only a hundred feet separating the _Salamander_ from the ground, there was not enough room to maneuver. It crashed. Diavel felt like the entire 100-ton _Salamander_ fell onto his chest. The shoulder straps bit deep into his flesh, adding his misery.

For a minute he gasped and coughed inside the cockpit, trying to clear his head and his eyes from the bogging smoke and blur, then kicked his zoid up. The Salamander strained to get up, all guns trained to one direction, ready to take on the _Heavy-Arms Konig Wolf_ in a possibly fatal shootout, but the white canine was nowhere to be seen. In fact the Guardian Force had retreated, leaving the burning Aspencade Fortress to the hands of the Helic Republic forces.

"Aspencade, this is Major Diavel," he called for any survivors. "Somebody give me sitrep."

"This is Zero-Two-Niner, I'm with a group of 16 on 3 APVs at the south of the fortress," an answer came feebly. "Not much to salvage, Major. We sure are beaten."

"This is Golf Five Beta, we're on the north."

"This is Alpha Sigma Sierra, hole up on two-two-seven…"

Replies kept coming in, and Diavel could some deep breaths. Most of the support personnel managed to escape. The majority of the casualties came from the zoids division. While this was a bit of a good news for Diavel (since the experienced technicians survived and none of the zoid casualties were veterans), the loss of so many new recruits made his heart sink. Not to mention the Aspencade was left in utter destruction. Now the southern corridor of Helic Republic was unguarded, and General Krauser would have a hard time spreading the Helic Military thin.

That, unless Krauser had another agenda.

"All units, head back to New Helic City," he said, then took off to lead the remaining Aspencade forces to the capital.


	13. Chapter 12 - Two Different Worlds

**TWELVE**

**TWO DIFFERENT WORLDS**

_**New Helic City,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**August 16, ZAC 2121**_

Major Diavel wasn't in the Senate room the last time General Krauser appealed his case. In fact, he wasn't in any Senate gathering before. He just remembered the way General Krauser sulked after the meeting, like a kid whose plea for candies was overruled by his parents. He knew the general could be very persuasive, and he could only imagine the intensity Krauser brought into the chamber. Yet the President and the Senate were not convinced.

Now the situation was different. Diavel and some survivors from Aspencade Fortress were present in a gathering asked vehemently by Krauser. The general entered the chamber with vengeance in his eyes. His balled fists were tight, and his teeth ground audibly, as if they were losing their patience before they feasted on Senate flesh. He took the podium and shot his venomous stare to every corner of the chamber. The President, and the Senate that sat behind him, could only dip their heads.

"I have warned you about this," Krauser's voice echoed through the room. "I have warned you that this can happen. You did not take this matter seriously. The Guardian Force is a serious threat to Helic Republic, but you regard it as a bunch of disorganized juveniles! Now you see the fruit of your stupidity! Hundreds of personnel are killed because of your narrow mind!"

"We are trying to prevent a bigger war with the Guylos Empire!" President Bonneville raised his voice. "All I asked… All we wanted was to keep this conflict in a manageable size without goading the Empire into another all-out war…"

"And why do you think you have the audacity to sacrifice the lives of good Helic Military personnel to prevent your imaginary war with the Empire?" Krauser unleashed his condensed wrath. "Those soldiers gave their lives for the Republic, and you - you among all who never see the horror of the battlefield - wasted their lives for some stupid paranoia! And for what? For another great war that may or may never come?"

"A war with Guylos Empire will cost us millions of lives!" Bonneville's yell barreled out of his lungs. "Do you want to sacrifice millions?"

"So you want to sacrifice hundreds? Tell it to their mothers! Tell it to their wives and children who had to live their lives without their loved ones! Tell it to the orphans that you let their fathers die so they can live hollow, empty lives! Look into their eyes and tell them you need a genocide to prevent another genocide!"

Diavel didn't expect to see Krauser to use the casualties to attack the President and the Senate, but he was not surprised. He had been mulling over this odds since Krauser told him that _the rookies will die, but they are expendable_. He spent many sleepless nights trying to understand what Krauser really wanted, but every time he always came up to one conclusion. Krauser wanted them to die. Why? Because he wanted to use their deaths as a weapon against the President and the Senate. He didn't want to believe it out of his respect and loyalty to Krauser. But Krauser just proved that his deduction was correct all along.

Diavel was not much of a politician. He had never been. In his simple mind, that 'genocide' epithet was best fit for Krauser rather than the President and the Senate. But even though he had a hard time finding Krauser's good intention behind his scheme, he didn't say anything. General Krauser was a decorated officer and a senior member of Helic Military. He chose to back off from the entire political saga and stood behind Krauser…

… although it had become increasingly difficult to do.

"We hear you, General," one of the more senior members of the Senate spoke, defusing the tension between Krauser and Bonneville. "But you must understand, the Guardian Force is a peace-keeper organization which consists of both Helic Republic and Guylos Empire operatives. Exterminating the Guardian Force will put us in a direct confrontation with the Guylos Empire. We can't afford another war with the Empire."

"Our good terms with the Guardian Force is the past, and the war with Guylos Empire is the future," Krauser hissed. "Our war with the Guardian Force is today. What's past has past, and tomorrow has its own headache. But we have to deal with today. Are you not going to avenge Aspencade? Fine. The Guardian Force will smell your hesitation, and tomorrow their zoids will trample New Helic City. You don't want to fight the Empire? You don't have to, because before the Empire even sets its foot on Central Continent, the Guardian Force will kill us all. That's what's going to happen if you don't deal with them today!"

"What are you going to do, Krauser?" another senator rose from his seat. "What do you need from us?"

"You know what I need," Krauser sneered. "Rally behind me. Arm my units with the _Gojulas Giga_. Recruit more soldiers. And rebuild Aspencade Fortress."

President Bonneville rose from his seat in a brisk as a response to Krauser's preposterous demand, but quickly realized that he was not in the position to negotiate. He knew any delay in granting Krauser full control of the _Gojulas Giga_ force would backfire. He really had no choice but to yield.

"I see," he sighed in exasperation. "Well, if the Senate agrees…"

"We don't see how this matter can be delayed much further," one senator replied. "I believe I can speak for all the senators here. General Krauser, you have your _Gojulas Giga_. We'll talk more about how to rebuild Aspencade Fortress."

There was a slight misgiving at the back of Diavel's mind as he heard the outcome of the meeting. Yes, Krauser had full control of the _Gojulas Giga_ fleet. Yes, he would be able to wipe out the Guardian Force. Yes, the conflict would end soon. But then what? What waited after the Guardian Force was defeated? The Guardian Force was founded as a buffer between Helic Republic and Guylos Empire. Without it, the front lines would open up for confrontation again, especially with the trigger-happy General Krauser behind the _Gojulas Giga_ juggernauts.

Was this what Krauser wanted all along? An all-out war with Guylos Empire?

"Briefing, 2300 hours tonight," Krauser snapped at Diavel, riding his triumphant smile. "We'll make a new game plan. This time, the Guardian Force is going down!"

* * *

The sun barely set when Diavel left the headquarters to get some rest before a potential all-night discussion with Krauser. But instead he bumped into the President's daughter Mio. She was still spunky, and the fact that the First Daughter wandered freely around a military headquarters without escort told him that she hadn't learn anything from her close encounter with the Guardian Force. She still believed she could do anything she wanted.

"Major," she greeted him. Gone was her spiteful attitude, replaced by bubbly persona. "It is good to see you in a great shape. I heard you were in Aspencade that night."

"Ma'am," Diavel snapped a half-hearted salute. "It was a terrible night for Helic Republic. We lost a lot of good people."

"But things will go alright from now on, right? My father and the Senate have released the _Gojulas Giga_ to battle the Guardian Force, right? So it won't be long until Helic Republic becomes a safe and free space again, like it used to, right?"

Diavel wished it was that simple, but the girl's innocent view boosted his morale. "I sure hope so. What are you doing here? Is there something I can assist you?"

"Actually, I am looking for you," Mio said with a feeble smile. "I feel that our first meeting was off to a wrong start. I did not even say thank you for saving my life. Well, I am sorry for my ruthless behavior. Sometimes when you're angry you can't think. Thank you for saving me. I am eternally grateful."

Her confession hit him so hard he didn't know what to say.

"Now you're creeping me out," Mio blurted. "Come on, say something."

"Uh… it is my job, Ma'am," Diavel stammered. His face turned red like a tomato. "What were you doing at Romeo City in the first place? Aren't you concerned about your own safety?"

"Now you sound like my father," Mio quipped. "There's nothing to be concerned about when you're just having lunch and going shopping with your friends."

"And did Secret Service do background checks on your friends?"

"They don't have to. It's Duchess Muroa."

Diavel's breath got stuck in his throat. "You're friends with Duchess Muroa? As in Wolff Muroa's daughter?"

"Why is it hard to accept?" Mio cringed. "Just because her father was an ex Eisen Dragoons and heir to Neo Zenebas Empire doesn't make her a threat to Helic Republic. The same as myself. Just because I am the daughter of Helic's president doesn't mean I am the enemy of everything that comes from the Dark Continent. Can't we just see a person as a person without his background, his allegiance, and his political views?"

"You are right, Miss Mio, but the world we live in is not that simple," Diavel sighed. "There will always be crooked people that will take advantage of your perfect world. That's why we are here. That's what the Secret Service is for. We are here to protect you from those kinds of people."

"What do you see in me, Major?" Mio suddenly asked.

"Pardon me?"

"Do you see me as your mission? Do you see me as your boss' daughter? Or do you see me as a person, regardless of who my father is? Have you gone past that boundary and judged me for who I am?"

That was a simple question that wasn't quite simple to answer. In all honesty, Diavel had never seen anybody as a human being. His life was Helic Republic. People around him were just brothers in arms, soldiers that would willingly give up their lives to protect the integrity of the Republic. They were war machines, just like the zoids, who would go to war at a moment notice. It was the only way he saw people: by their loyalty to the Helic Republic.

"I do not have the answer to your question, Miss Mio," he sighed in defeat. "I am not trained to do so."

"Trained?" Mio scoffed. "Does everything have to be militaristic to you? Are you not tired of living a soldier's life? Do you not long for human touch?"

"I do not know, Miss Mio."

"Maybe we should meet more often in a more human basis," Mio perked her head. "You as Diavel, not Major Diavel. Me as Mio, not Mio the president's daughter. Just sit and try to know each other. Who are you? What's your favorite color? What music you listen to? Who's your favorite novelist? What quality do you seek in a partner? Do you have a girlfriend? Have you ever fallen in love? Have you ever been broken-hearted?"

Her questions made him cringe, but he had to admit, he was intrigued.

"I would like that," he said, carefully, so as not to create a false impression. She was still the First Daughter, no matter how hard she tried to deny it. "Time permitting."

"I'll hold on to that," Mio winked before taking off to her car. "I'm sure you are a man of your words."

"I am," Diavel sighed, wondering what on earth he was thinking.


	14. Chapter 13 - So Close, Yet So Far

**THIRTEEN**

**SO CLOSE, YET SO FAR**

_**New Helic City,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**September 3, ZAC 2121**_

With Aspencade under construction, all military activity shifted back to New Helic Republic. The grand white building turned into a busy hub for activities from training new recruits, piling up logistics and parts, mobilizing zoids, repair works, command center, intelligence, and dozens more works usually spread across the continent on fortresses. Various tents and emergency bunkers were erected to accommodate these needs.

Although hectic, the return to New Helic City was a blessing for Saskia. She didn't have to spend hours of driving between Aspencade and the gunsmith at New Helic City. She could sneak out of the base after hours to do her part of the bargain with the blacksmith: upgrading the blacksmith's _Godos_ to pay off the armor pieces for the _Gilvader_. This expedited the process since the upgraded _Godos_ were able to accelerate the manufacturing of the armor pieces. What approximated as 3-month deal wrapped up as less-than-a-month job for both parties.

Both Saskia and the blacksmith's CEO were ecstatic with the progress.

"As agreed, the last _Godos_ has been upgraded to full military specs," Saskia handed in the rundown of performance improvement of the zoids to the blacksmith CEO. "First is the output setting of the core. It was set up at 65% nominal, normal for civilian zoids. About 95% of this power output goes to the drive train, so your _Godos_ were only 10% slower than military _Godos_. But the weapon power outlets were severely choked from power, so even though you install typical _Godos_ weapons, you would have a weaker weapon platform than military version. This is just a precaution so when you decide to arm your zoids, the military still have considerable advantage over you.

"I tuned up your cores to nominal output and rerouted the power outlet to 70% drive train and 25% strength. You will notice considerable improvement on speed and lifting capability. Your zoids are now specifically tuned up to do manufacturing duties with militaristic performance. Of course I only left 5% power for weapon outlets, so you still can't install weapons other than a couple of machine guns at best. It's just standard operating procedure."

"I must say I am impressed by your professionalism, Miss Saskia," the CEO nodded in satisfaction as he read the specs. "We already see big numbers in our gross revenue because the _Godos_ can handle bigger loads. Everybody's happy with the improvements."

"Then I hope I have the same treatment from you as you get from me," Saskia said.

The CEO smirked. "You don't have to worry about it, Miss Saskia. I am a man of my word, and I stand behind my products. You armor platings are being loaded on a truck. I personally supervised the manufacturing of the platings. They are made from the best grade material that we have, in the state-of-the-art manufacturing procedures available, and the best fit and finish process we can muster. Your zoid will have protection even from the strongest weapons available on Zi. However, you have to be careful, my young friend. We are at a high-alert situation, and this kind of product can raise a red flag in Helic Military security council."

"I know," Saskia grinned. "You don't have to worry about it. If something happens to me, you and your factory will not be harmed in any way."

"Good. That's the warranty I need to hear."

"Then this will seal the deal," Saskia pulled out her card. "It has enough money to cover a quarter of the entire production cost of the armor platings, just as agreed."

"Very well," the CEO took the card. "It'll be just a second and you'll be on your way."

* * *

The downside of moving back to New Helic City was now Saskia had to drive to the _Gilvader_ site. A small jeep, like she usually drove, wouldn't get attention. A large truck full of high-quality armor platings wouldn't be so invisible. The worst part was she had to drive the truck alone, without escort, through an open space. There was only desert between New Helic City and Aspencade Fortress. She would be a sitting duck for bandits, pirates, and the Guardian Force patrol.

So she decided to use the night as her cover. She wondered if it was wise to travel in the dark since some crooks also like to prowl their victims at night. But at least the black-painted armor plating blended well with the darkness, so less people would be suspecting. That was exactly what she needed.

The trip turned out to be a quiet cruise through the desert. Only the sound of the engine accompanied her in a long, dull stride. While it didn't make an interesting journey, it gave her a chance to think about her life, how she wanted it to be and how it went so far. Funny how everything worked out. She was nowhere near her childhood dream as a Helic Republic zoid pilot, but working as a zoid technician gave her a different perspective about the organic-machines. She felt attached to the zoids, more like their veterinarian rather than their master, something she might not be able to do as a zoid pilot.

All being said, she wondered what her father would think of her situation now. She knew her father didn't push her to be a pilot, but which father wasn't proud if his daughter succeeded him? That was the basis of her obsession to go to the military and be a flying zoid pilot. She wanted to make her father proud. The question was, would her father be proud of her being a mechanic? Would he be just as proud to see her with honed technical skill? Would he be just as proud knowing what she took behind-the-scene role rather than the much-glorified but oft-deadly front-line soldiers?

Saskia might not know the answer.

"I am sorry Father, I don't mean to let you down," she whispered solemnly under the roaring sound of the truck. "I guess I'm just not as good as you. Zoids like me to handle their parts, but hate me inside their cockpits. Looks like I'm better fit on the ground, away from the cockpit. I think I'm doing good as a tech, though. Learnt a lot about how things work around the core. Learnt about weapons, too. If you were still around, I could be your personal mechanic. I can upgrade your _Pteras_ to be the strongest, fastest _Pteras_ ever.

"And guess what, I'm fixing this monster zoid, an ancient dragon I found on an abandoned cave. It can fly, Father, and it's the fastest flying zoid, like… ever. I'm trying to make if fly again. It's a long shot, and it may never work, but if it does… Father, you have no idea how it will fly…"

Alas, the trip never meant to see the end. From the corner of her eyes Saskia saw a fast shadow zoomed on her right side. It was big, zoid-sized big, probably between 30 to 50 tons. Adrenaline surged into her veins. She quickly turned the truck to the right, trying to catch that shadow with her headlights, but it was gone. But then it was on her left. She turned left and stuck her head out the window, trying to get a good glimpse of what was following her. She saw nothing. It kept shifting left and right, keeping her guessing. Her guess was that it was a _Lightning Saix_ since she didn't know any other zoid that could move that fast.

And then, her nightmare came true. A crack reverberated in the distance, then her tires blew off. The entire truck quaked and swayed. Saskia grimaced, gripping and holding the steering wheel as hard as she could to keep the truck steady. But the loss of her rear left tires almost toppled the 18-wheeler, and it took her everything she got to keep the truck rolling.

The shadows – two of them – sandwiched the truck in a high-speed chase. The one on her left was a quadruped which galloped with such an awkward gait since its fore hinds were much longer than its aft ones. Various missiles were obvious even in the dark night. The one on her right was a biped, easily identifiable as either a _Gun Sniper_ or _Rev Raptor_, with enormous amount of modular weaponries on its sides.

Saskia knew she had no chance to escape.

The zoid on the left barked its cannon, and all tires on her left exploded. The truck tipped over in an instance. Saskia did everything she could to hold the truck, but there was so much she could do. The truck capsized, spilling the _Gilvader_ armor plates all over the desert.

For some time Saskia stayed in the truck until she regained full consciousness, then climbed out to meet her attacker. The truck's headlight illuminated the attackers, and she was aghast to see them. She was right about the _Gun Sniper_, but it was not just a _Gun Sniper_. It was a _Gun Sniper Wild Weasel_, with assorted missile launchers, gatling cannons, and radar all over its body. The other one was a _Hammer Rock_, a gorilla-type zoid with a close proximity to the venerable _Iron Kong_. This one, too, was heavily modified with smorgasbord of missiles.

"Looky looky, a girl!" the _Hammer Rock_ pilot taunted from its external speaker. "What a dimwitted idea for a girl to travel alone, at night, without the cover of zoids!"

"Not so dimwitted for us," the _Gun Sniper_ pilot replied.

"Not so dimwitted for… hey, take a look at these goodies!" the _Hammer Rock_ turned around and inspected the _Gilvader_ armor plates sprawled in the desert. The metal gorilla tried to pick up a piece of armor, but even for the zoid it was too heavy. "Santa Maria! What the hell is this?"

"Who are you?" the _Gun Sniper_ trained all weapons at Saskia. "What are you carrying?"

Saskia remained silent.

"These are not typical Helic zoid parts! She's on a spooky mission! Let's get the hell out of here before we get into trouble!"

"No! No! Wait!" the _Gun Sniper_ turned to inspect the _Gilvader_ armor. "These could worth millions."

"It's not worth our lives, man!"

"We'll squeeze her for information then we'll decide what to do with those!" the _Gun Sniper_ came back at Saskia. "Face on the ground! Now!"

Saskia didn't have a choice. She lied down on the ground and spread her arms and legs. That was when somebody put a bag over her head.


	15. Chapter 14 - Reunion

**FOURTEEN**

**REUNION**

**Note: **A good amount of text has been removed to keep this chapter PG-13 (T), so it may feel choppy at times. But I will release the _Uncut_ version on my _deviantArt_ account when this story is finished, and this chapter will be uploaded in its entirety. Just be advised that you may not like what you read.

**Review Corner**: Thank you a lot **randomcat23 **for your continuing reviews. I don't mind late. I just hope you enjoy it. For other readers who enjoy this story, drop me a line sometime. I'd love to interact and have some feedback from you.

* * *

_**Somewhere in the desert,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**September 4, ZAC 2121**_

Keeping her head inside a rag bag for several hours made Saskia's eyes sensitive to light, so when somebody finally ripped the bag off her head, even the flickering light of a small wood fire hurt her eyes. She shut her eyes for almost a minute, only opening them inch by inch, and even when they were wide open, it took her a while to adjust to the bright environment.

She found herself sitting on the ground with a pole pressed against her back. Her arms were stretched up, wrists roped tightly to the pole. Her legs were stretched wide with her ankles anchored on wooden pegs. She was stripped to her undies, and the night breeze made her body quiver, but her bare feet were close enough to the fire she felt the heat started peeling off the skin of her soles. Saskia didn't like being barefoot. She felt naked, vulnerable, open, helpless.

Especially in front of strangers.

Her vision was not fully adjusted, but she could see 4 figures moving around her, chattering in soft voice as to avoid getting overheard by her. They were all male. The tallest was tall and gaunt, well in excess of 6 feet, and the shortest one was round and rotund. The other two were of normal proportion, although one of them was close to the tallest one.

"Now that you're awake, it's time for you to talk about your cargo," one of them said. "What are those?"

"Armor pieces from custom zoids I'm building," Saskia pulled the same fib.

"It is not wise to resist, Master Tech van Leewenhoek," another one spoke. "That's right, we know who you are. Do you think the military will come and get you? Do you think they care? Think about it. They're busy with the Guardian Force. They have lost hundreds of operatives. One missing technician won't make them sweat."

"You know how to read," Saskia replied defiantly. It was probably not wise to resist. But the way they were treating her made her inner stubbornness exploded to the surface. They did not have to rob things from her. Sweat beaded on her forehead, more from fear than temperature, but she swore she would not give them the satisfaction. "Then you'll know how to read zoids manual. Those were just armor pieces from a custom zoid."

One of them harshly grabbed her short hair and pulled it backward, forcing Saskia to look at him. He was thin, clean, borderline effeminate with a long bang that covered half of his face. If it weren't for the thin moustache she had mistaken him for a girl. But his eyes sprouted hatred and frustration as if he was looking at his sworn enemy.

Somehow Saskia had seen that stare.

"You're in the middle of nowhere, you Helic trash!" the guy growled like an animal. "Nobody will hear you scream!"

"Whatever you're looking for, you will not get it from me," Saskia replied, cockily, but foolishly. She understood she was just making things worse. She just didn't want to yield. "My name is Master Tech Saskia van Leewenhoek, serial number C337-094-29349-BK. I am a technician at Helic Military. You are dealing with the wrong person."

"What is your cargo?" the guy yelled right in front of her face.

"I told you. They're armor pieces from a custom zoid."

Another one came and grabbed hold of her neck. She clenched her teeth and fought hard to breathe, but with her windpipe tightening, she found it harder and harder to stay awake. The guy mercilessly choke her for a full minute until she saw nothing but darkness, then released her and let her cough and gag for a while.

"You think we're stupid, Master Tech?" the first one taunted. "You think you're tough behind behind that Helic shield? Wearing Helic uniform doesn't guarantee you safety. Here in the desert, it's all about toughness. You're tough behind the shield of Helic zoids. But without it, you're just an arrogant worm, like everybody else."

"We can do this all night, or we can stop your agony. It's your choice," the other one added. "Just cooperate and give yourself a favor: what is it you're carrying?"

"Armor pieces! Armor pieces from a custom zoid!"

The second guy, the tallest of the bunch, grabbed her cheek. Saskia felt his fingers dig deep into her mouth, so deep she could feel his fingernails scrapping her teeth. Everything in him was long. His face was long. His nose was long. His fingers were long. Even his hair was long, but he kept it tucked under a headband with some kind of feather ornament at the back of his head.

"The longer you resist, the more pain you feel!" he barked.

"We're not afraid of the military!" the first one added. "Tell us now of suffer more! What is it you're carrying? Tell us now!"

"They're just armor pieces from a custom zoid! Nothing more, nothing less!"

The shortest guy, who had been silent and crouching at her feet the whole time, got up and took a piece of burning wood from the fire. He blew the fire out, leaving the hot-red cinder at the tip of the piece. Without warning he jabbed the cinder onto Saskia's soft, unsuspecting ball of right foot. Saskia's eyes bugged out then shut close as pain coursed through her body. Her toes scrunched in agony, her body bowed in spasm, and her cry echoed through the desert, but there was only so much she could do as she was fastened tightly.

"What is it that you are defending?" the fourth guy finally tuned in. "Does this worth your future at the Helic Republic? Will Helic Republic reward your loyalty? We both know it's not going to happen. You're just a pawn in their eyes, a mule to squeeze until your juice runs out, and then they'll just throw you out like a rag doll and find someone else to be milked as such."

"This has nothing to do with Helic Republic," Saskia broke a little. "I have been telling you the truth. I am carrying armor pieces for a custom zoid. That's all there is to it."

"What do you take us for, Master Tech Leewenhoek?" the fourth guy crouched next to her, looking straight into her eyes. "Do you think we are stupid? Do you expect us to be ignorant about zoid mechanism, just because we're wandering on the desert? We have a _Hammerock_ that can't lift one piece of your armor. That armor must weigh in excess of 10 tons apiece. And you have how many? A dozen pieces? Do you expect us to believe that you have a custom zoid that carries 120 tons of armor?"

This one was different than the rest of the guys. This one was smart. He was trying to beat Saskia at her own game, imposing his logic rather than violence and pain to break her. He must have been the leader of the gang, obvious from the authority in his voice.

"What is the Helic Republic building?" the guy asked, sternly this time.

"What do you care what the Helic Republic is building?" Saskia spat. "Just take the armor pieces."

"You're so naïve, Master Tech. What good are they if we can't sell them? Besides, Helic Republic will have our asses…"

"Helic Republic will have your asses, no matter what you're stealing."

"Helic Republic does not care what I'm stealing unless I hurt its supremacy on the battlefield," he roared, barreling out his displeased for the superstate. "All Helic cares is domination of Planet Zi. Since the Guylos and the Zenebas are limiting its military arms over the plains of Planet Zi, it has to maintain its technological edge over the Empires. Does it care about its people? No! Does it care about its money? No! What you hear about loyalty and righteousness are nothing but lies. Helic Republic needs your loyalty and your lives to keep it ahead of the Empires."

The guy grinned, showing off a train of kempt teeth, then looked into her in the earnest. "You're smart, Master Tech. It's sad to see a strong and skillful individual like you wasting your talents for Helic Republic. Join me and my Black Knights team. We can use a zoid technician to take care of our zoids, someone with strong sense of loyalty like you. All you have to do is sell those armor pieces, reset your allegiance to me, and live free in the desert. Trust me, it's a hundred times more rewarding than busting your ass for the Republic."

_Black Knights_. Where did she hear of it before? The name rang a terrible bell at the back of her mind, long before she finally realized who they really were. These were the same bullies that terrorized her when she was a little girl. And the memory of years living in fears came back like an avalanche. They sure had grown up. Burgman's face had been covered with facial hair. Versys grew moustache. Dakota had much longer face and much, much longer hair. And Falco, the leader, had grown so much she hardly recognized him.

_Why it had to be them? Of all the bandits and pirates that could ambush, ravish, and murder her out cold in the desert, why it had to be these guys?_

"Falco?" she couldn't resist.

The sudden change in his face was unmistakable. She hit his soft spot. "How do you know my name?" he jerked backward. "Who are you?" He grabbed her shoulder and forced her to look into his face. And then his eyes turned dark, and moroseness clouded his confidence. He remembered her.

"It's you," he whimpered. "You!"

"What are you talking about?" Versys, the small guy with thin moustache, caught his change of attitude. "Who is she? Do you know her?"

"Let's get out of here," Falco stood and turned his back at Saskia. "Get the armor plates and leave."

"What?" Versys blurted in protest. "Who is she? Why are you afraid? What are you hiding?"

"Get out!" Falco lost his cool. "Get everything out! We're leaving!"

"We're a'defer but you disclosement of her nombre!" the short, hairy one finally spoke, and he cemented Saskia's hypothesis. That was Burgman. He still spoke like an idiot. But he still hung out with the others.

"We talk about this later," Falco said, calmly, but sternly. "Everybody get out and leave this place!"

"What about the girl?" Dakota, the tall Indian, grabbed Falco's arm while stealing glances at Saskia.

"Somebody will get her. Now leave."

"Are you sure you don't want to share something with the rest of the team?"

"I said we will talk about this later!" Falco growled. "Now beat it! We're leaving!"

Saskia could only watch as the boys mounted their zoids and left her tied up on a pole in the desert. They didn't even have the decency to cover her up with some clothes, and the night got chillier barring the wood fire that barely warming her feet. The cold crept into her body like thousands of needles stabbing her bones. At this time, Saskia was sure she was not going to see the morning light.

Hours later, when her shivers waned from exhaustion, she spotted some zoids coming to her direction. But she was too tired to even open her eyes. Her vision turned dark not long after.


	16. Chapter 15 - Can of Worm

**FIFTEEN**

**CAN OF WORM**

**Review Corner**:

**requim17**: Thank you very much for your support. I am flattered that another great zoid writer stopped by and read my story. I do like tough women like Irena Sendler who endured unimaginable hardship for something she believed in. I think subconsciously there is a bit of Irena Sendler in Saskia (Sendler is German, though, and Saskia is Dutch).

**randomcat23**: Thank you for your continuing support. You can find out Saskia's rescuer in this chapter. Also there's quite a bit of information for the GF problem in this chapter, so you may not want to miss this part

* * *

_**Somewhere in the desert,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**September 5, ZAC 2121**_

When Saskia opened her eyes, she found herself in a warm office room. The desk was cluttered with mountains of paper. Some piles even littered the floor. The cabinet in the corner could barely close its door; the innumerable supply goodies peeked from the large crack on the door as if fighting to burst out of the stuffy cabinet. The stench of old paper lingered in the room. Pipes ran on the ceiling, and when somebody open the tap somewhere in the building, the water running through the conduits made a ghastly noise as if the building was crumbling apart.

"Take it easy, Miss. You may want to lie down for a little while."

Saskia pricked her head to see who was talking. Two men were sitting at the other side of the room, watching her from the distance. The desk blocked most of the view, whose presence Saskia gratefully acknowledged because she was still half naked. But she had a large comfortable blanket covering much of her body, and she could only guess that the men gave it to them. Thankfully, they wore some kind of law-enforcement uniform.

The older between the two sat on the chair. He was gaunt, with white hair covering much of his face. The younger one, fit to be the other's grandson, was sitting on the desk. He was barely out of his teen, but he didn't have that juvenile aura Saskia saw in most of the new recruits of Helic Military. This guy was tough, as tough as the old man, and he had seen real war despite his young age. The sharp, vigilant stare in his eyes confirmed her assumption.

"Who are you?" Saskia drew the blanket to cover much of her body.

"We are the State Troopers of Keel Town. I am Sherriff Stelvio. This is my deputy, Duke. We found you tied up in the middle of the desert. Looks like you have been victimized by the Black Knight pirates."

It took her a second to get a full grip on the situation. "Did you find my truck?"

"We just found you, Miss," the young cop, Duke, replied huskily. "We didn't see any truck. But the most important thing right now is that you are safe and well."

Saskia couldn't say that she agreed with the cop. She invested so much on the armor pieces that her wellbeing didn't seem important anymore. They were not just armor pieces. They were the first gate to her dream. She just had to get the pieces back. She got up from the chair and started walking toward the door. "I am grateful for saving my life, Officers, but I have to get my truck back."

"Now let's just take a deep breath and use our heads," Sherriff Stelvio halted her. "Where do you want to find your truck? You don't even know where you are, and you don't seem to be familiar with this area. Even if you do, what guarantee do you have that you will find your truck? And let's say you find your truck, how are you going to get it back? You're likely to go against the dreaded Black Knight pirate gang."

As much as Saskia itched to go out and hurled herself back into the desert, she knew that Stelvio's words carried the truth. She needed a plan if she wanted to succeed in her quest. And she remembered her conversation with Falco the other night about selling the armor pieces. Falco still didn't know what he had, and that situation would slow him down. Saskia had enough time to devise a plan before Falco could even find a potential buyer.

"So what do you want me to do, Officer?" Saskia took the chair in front of Stelvio.

"State your name, for a start," the old Sherriff took a pen and started scribbling on his notebook.

"My name is Master Tech Saskia van Leewenhoek. I am a technician for Helic Miltary."

"Helic Military, huh?" there was a slight disgust in Stelvio's answer.

"Why? You don't seem to be impressed by it?"

"I'll tell you why, but right now let's focus on your situation," Duke aided his old superior. "What were you doing in this area?"

"I was just passing."

"And what did the Black Knight gang take from you?"

"My truck."

Her answer made Stelvio propped his head high. "Are you hiding something from us, Master Tech?"

"What? No!" Saskia fibbed.

"The Black Knights are pirates," Duke tuned in. "They have been terrorizing the people of Keel Town, taking valuable things, and occasionally ambushing Helic shipments that came through this area. They will not attack something if they don't think it is valuable. So you must have been transporting precious cargo that attracted the Black Knights. What were you transporting in your truck?"

"Just some zoid parts," Saskia lifted up her guards.

"Military?"

"The truck was. The zoid parts weren't. They were… uhm… for personal project."

"Hi-grade weapons? Shield generator? Ultimate-X components? What?" Stelvio's patient ran thin.

"Just some armor pieces. I was carrying them from the blacksmith at New Helic City to its place near Aspencade Fortress. There is nothing special about them, just some regular armor pieces."

"Hmph…." Stelvio went back to scratching his notebook. "I will call the blacksmith to check your story, but assuming you're telling the truth… Did you have any contact with the Black Knights? Did they tell you what they're going to do with the pieces?"

"I guess," Saskia exhaled exasperatedly. "They said they would sell the pieces, but they didn't know what kind of armor they were. I told them they were armor pieces for a custom zoid, but they didn't believe me. So they tortured me, but I didn't know what else to say. I told them the truth."

"We will contact other law enforcers to watch out for zoid trading in the vicinity and keep their eyes open for suspicious activities, but that is the most we can do," Duke said. "We can't guarantee that you'll get your truck and your parts back."

"You said the Black Knight gang has been robbing people for some time in this area," Saskia started to get impatient. "Does anybody know where they stay? Has anybody seen them? Do you know where their regular buyers are?"

"Oh, we do know exactly where they hang out," Stelvio leaned back in his chair. A glint of hopelessness shot from his eyes. "And we do know where they usually sell their stolen stuffs. We just do not have the means to confront them. Their leader, Falco, pilots a rare _Bear Fighter_. It had been modified to fight in the desert. Two of their members, Versys and Dakota, pilot customized _Gun Sniper Wild Weasel_ and _Hammerock_ with extra missiles. The other one, Burgman, pilot a _Cannon Tortoise_, also modified to fight in the desert. We, on the other hand, only have an old _Helcat_ and a _Molga_. There's no way we can compete with the Black Knight zoids."

"But… so are you just going to let the Black Knight gang take whatever they want from the people? Why didn't you report this to Helic Military? Surely they'll send someone to help."

Duke smiled in response. "Come with me, Miss. I'll show you something."

Confused, Saskia followed the deputy to climb the stairs to the top of the building. The gentle breeze gave calm to her troubled mind. Duke stood at the edge of the building, overlooking the small city of Keel Town. It was so small that Saskia could see the city limit from where she stood.

"Keel Town is a small settlement in the middle of nowhere," he explained. "The population is less than 1000. The mayor, doctor, pastor, and debt collector is the same man. Sherriff Stelvio and I are the only law enforcement in this city. We are self sustaining city. We produce our own food, clothes, housing, water, and other everyday need. We are surrounded by the desert, and barely anybody passes here. Why would the Helic Republic care about Keel Town?"

"They do," Saskia replied with confidence. "General Krauser is submitting proposal to increase Helic's military personnel. When they're in abundance, and when the conflict with the Guardian Force is over, we can send somebody here….."

"General Krauser?" Duke snorted. "Krauser doesn't care about pirates and desert bandits and little towns like Keel Town! Krauser only wants glorious war with state-of-the-art zoids, high-explosive bombs and blitzing laser cannons. That was one of the Guardian Force main reasons when they opposed Krauser's plan, because the plan will suck little settlements like Keel Town dry. People from small cities will race to New Helic City to win Krauser's large benefits. Keel Town will die within 6 months of Krauser's aggressive military expansion."

Saskia felt like being struck by a lightning bolt. "Is that true? Are you saying the Guardian Force was trying to protect small towns like Keel Town?"

"Why else was it against Krauser's plan?"

"But ambushing convoys? Attacking and destroying Aspencade Fortress? Killing Helic's personnel? Seems a bit too extreme for defending small countrymen, don't you think?"

The deputy dipped his head, trying to answer Saskia's critical question, but so far he could only come up with hypotheses. "Bear in mind that the Guardian Force is made up from Helic AND Guylos personnel. Helic Republic is democratic and people are brought up in democracy atmosphere. Guylos is a feudalistic empire. Maybe violence is the solution for all problems there. There are some things that we can't control."

"So you think the Guylos operatives of the Guardian Force are causing this violence?"

"Possibly. Might as well be piggybacked by the Guylos Empire itself. Who would know?"

Saskia almost thought that stopping at Keel Town and talking to these simple people was a blessing for her. Working too close to Helic's central command bombarded her with Helic's propaganda, so much that she could only see the problem with one blind eye. But listening to other people, like the small countrymen of Keel Town, opened her other eye so she could see the matter objectively. She never thought it could've been Guylos Empire working behind the scene… possibly.

"Anyway, Miss Leewenhoek, the bottom line is we are on our own," Duke shrugged. "We don't have the firepower to fight the Black Knight gang. We don't even have the firepower to defend ourselves if the Black Knights decide to ravage Keel Town. The only thing that keeps them from doing that is they don't think we're worth their time, and we're poised to keep it that way."

As a Helic Military operative, Saskia felt ashamed by the way the military treated small settlements like Keel Town. She decided to lend them her hands in the only way she knew possible. "I know there are some kits to upgrade your zoids. I know where to get a cheap 120-mm artillery cannon for the _Molga_. That thing can blow a hole even on a _Gojulas_. And the _Helcat_ is one of the most versatile zoids in term of modification. There are at least 3 or 4 customization parts we can get for really cheap. With these parts, I guarantee that you have enough firepower to take on the Black Knight gang, if not all, then at least their _Gun Sniper Wild Weasel_ and the missile _Hammerock_."

It was Duke's turn to drop his jaw. "Are you serious?"

"I am a Master Tech at Helic Military. Zoid modification is my daytime job."

"But where do we get the money for the parts and your labor?"

"For the parts, you have to discuss it with Sherriff Stelvio and maybe Keel Town's mayor. As for my labor, just promise me…" Saskia looked at Duke in the earnest. "If I do this for you, promise me you will hunt the Black Knight gang and get my truck back. It's all I ask."

"We'll be happy to do it… if your truck and your armor pieces are still there."

Saskia smiled. "Believe me, the Black Knight gang will be stuck with them in a long, long time."


	17. Chapter 16 - Payback

**SIXTEEN**

**PAYBACK**

**Review Corner:**

**Algamic**: Thank you for your encouraging words! Fortunately I am working in a military environment so I know how people use military equipments (i.e. tanks, armored vehicles, weapons, jet fighters etc) in reality. I decided to bring that knowledge into the fanfic because the best piece of advice anybody ever gave me is "Reality makes fantasy interesting."

I hope you continue reading ^_^

* * *

_**Somewhere in the desert,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**September 12, ZAC 2121**_

Acquiring a 120-mm artillery cannon for the _Molga_ and two booster jets for the _Helcat_ was easier than Saskia thought. Mounting them on the zoids was a different matter entirely. Keel Town was a very small town with no decent zoid garage whatsoever. Saskia and half of the town had to build steel frames and cranes to hoist the massive cannon and the boosters to be mounted on the zoids. Lucky for Saskia, the small-town folks were eager to help upon learning that the Sherriff and his deputy would take on the pirate gang.

The installation process felt like an anticlimactic. The booster jets fitted like a pair of gloves on the _Helcat's_ hips. They made the zoid move clumsy at first, but once it adapted to the extra baggage, it moved convincingly as if the boosters had been parts of it for a long time. The artillery cannon needed some extra fittings to stay in place on top of the _Molga_, but again the town folks were more than happy to help.

Before they took the _Helcat_ and the _Molga_ to the battlefield, the Sherriff and his deputy decided to conduct a little test run. First, Sherriff Stelvio manned the _Helcat_ in a 1-mile dash. Duke rode the _Molga_, and Saskia sat on the passenger seat behind the deputy with her computer in her lap.

"I'm linking my laptop to your sensors, Sherriff," she talked through her comset. "I need you to open all throttles and set the _Helcat_ loose. I want to see how the frames handle the G-force. These booster jets are made for _Helcats_ but your zoid is not in the best of condition."

"Roger that," Stelvio replied.

"On my mark… ready… go!" and the _Helcat_ bolted. It was an old zoid, evident from the slightly limping gait just before the boosters took over. But the boosters worked like a pair of superchargers at the rear end of the _Helcat_. Tongues of fire blasted from the nozzles, pushing the _Helcat_ forward like a bullet. The 1-mile distance was eaten in just under 30 seconds.

"Brake! Brake! Brake!" Saskia yelped onto her comset. Stelvio deactivated the boosters and pulled the joystick. The _Helcat_ roared as it sank its feet into the ground. The extra mass dragged the metal feline farther than it wanted to, but it lowered its body to add more stopping power. It skidded a few more feet before coming to a complete stop.

"Good, good," Saskia grinned as she watched the analysis of stress on her computer. "Your cat still has a healthy backbone, Sherriff," she satisfactorily broke the news. "It's 30-percent under stressed during acceleration and only 5-percent over stressed during stopping, but this case is highly conservative. You will rarely have a severe maneuver like this during combat. The joints are rather rusty but still fine."

"So what does that mean?" Stelvio replied briskly, obviously miffed by Saskia's technical jargons.

"Meaning you're good to go." Saskia switched to a different window to test the Molga. "Deputy, you're up. Do some crazy maneuver and see if the cannon stay in place."

"Yes Ma'am," Duke replied shortly and slammed his foot on the pedal. The _Molga_ cried out in protest, but yielded to his demand, zigzagging on the desert sand like a drunken beast. But as reckless as the _Molga_ went, it didn't go very fast. Indeed, speed and maneuverability was not the _Molga's_ forte. As a result, the 120-mm artillery cannon stayed on.

"Pick something and shoot it with the cannon," Saskia demanded.

Duke put his crosshair on a rock formation half a mile away, then hit the trigger. The entire cockpit quaked when the massive cannon blasted. The sound felt like wrecking the plexiglass canopy, and Saskia's ears rang for several minutes. But alas, Duke's marksmanship went wide and exploded harmlessly in the sand.

"The structure can take that shockwave just fine," Saskia said in assuring. "But we have to work on your targeting. Calibrate the targeting system a couple degrees left and five degrees down."

Duke did as told, then pulled the trigger one more time. The shell whistled in the air before arcing down and blasted the rock formation dead on.

"We've got a bullseye!" Saskia chimed. "All system green. We are ready to go."

"Bear in mind that none of us has been in real zoid combat before," Stelvio said as he brought his _Helcat_ to face the _Molga_. "The Black Knight gang might have been more combat ready. And we're still outnumbered."

"I think the element of surprise is on your side," Saskia replied. "The pirates do not expect to see you in well-equipped zoids, and more importantly, you have the guts to take the battle to their doorstep. We may be able to pull this off. Try it once, it's all I ask."

"Alright, then," Stelvio started to move. "Duke, form up on me. Let's hunt some pirates!"

* * *

Stelvio and Duke didn't waste time to go straight to the Black Knight hang out place: a small oasis in the middle of the desert. The small pond watered a few trees and green pasture with occasional rock formations. The _Gun Sniper Wild Weasel_ and the missile-laden _Hammerock_ were parked at the far side of the oasis, while a Cannon Tortoise and a _Bear Fighter_ – rare for desert dwellers – stayed on the other side. In the middle of the oasis just at the pond's bank lied Saskia's truck, still complete with the _Gilvader's_ armor. Saskia's prediction that the Black Knight gang would have tough time to sell the armor pieces because they didn't know what they were was correct.

They broke the golden rule of piracy: _do not bite what you cannot chew_.

"Falco!" Stelvio call out the pirate leader through his external speaker. "You have taken something that doesn't belong to you. Give it up and surrender yourself! I am here to bring you in… all of you!"

There was a slight cacophony over the comlink as the pirates scrambled their zoids, then Falco's voice rang loud and clear on the speaker, "Sherriff, it's been a long time! I should've visited you more often. Looks like you have some new toys to brag about! Do they give you confidence, or should I say cockiness, to take on the Black Knight?"

"You and your scoundrels have been a thorn in my flesh for far too long," the _Helcat_ inched forward in a lunging stature. "It is time to end your miserable run. Exit your zoids and surrender."

"I don't know it's because of you getting senile or your big but empty equipments gives you an illusion of grandeur, old man," the shrilling, hateful voice of Versys reverberated on the speaker as he moved up his _Hammerock_ next to the _Bear Fighter_. "We outnumber you 2 to 1! Just take that pomposity of yours somewhere before we squash your toys!"

"Parley no sufficement! Consence at pillagery of the scrums, Falco!" Burgman's gibberish followed suit.

"Last chance, pirates! Surrender yourselves or I will take excessive measure to bring you in!"

"Did that Helic Master Tech helped you with the guns?" Falco spoke again. "Did she upgrade your zoids in exchange of her truck? That doesn't mean anything, old man. You don't have Helic Republic behind your back. She is helping you because she has her own agenda. She has no intention of helping that little colony of yours as long as she has her truck back!"

Saskia's face was red with wrath.

"I warned you, Falco!" Stelvio pushed his _Helcat_ forward in a more aggressive gait. "I am bringing you in!"

"Black Knights! Get rid of this delusional old man for good!" Falco roared, and the _Wild Weasel_ and _Hammerock_ fired their missiles in quick succession. More than 3 dozen missiles raced toward the metal feline with murderous intention. But Stelvio blasted his booster jets, bringing the _Helcat_ to zip past the missile volleys, out of harm. The missiles ravaged the pasture, tossing soil and charred plants into the air.

"Your days are over, Black Knights!" Duke lined up his crosshair with the _Cannon Tortoise_ which started raining fire at the _Helcat_. The sound of the artillery cannon rattled his teeth, and the recoil threw his head forward so hard he thought his neck broke. But the 120-mm shell flew on target and bludgeoned the _Cannon Tortoise_ with extreme prejudice. The Tortoise's thick carapace stopped the shell dead on, but its main cannon disintegrated in a wild explosion. Cannon parts whistled in the air as the giant tortoise staggered hard.

"Calamity! I am cause to non effectivity!" Burgman flooded the comlink with nonsense after nonsense.

The early exit of the _Cannon Tortoise_ shocked the Black Knight since they depended on Burgman to lay down artillery fire. Their formation crumbled, and for a brief moment they didn't know what to do and just ran around like a bunch of kids. The _Wild Weasel_ was first to come to its senses. It strafed the _Molga_ with razor-sharp volleys from its gatling beam cannons.

"Move! Move! Move out of the way!" Saskia yelled in panic as the _Molga_ armor began to breach. Duke floored the pedal, pushing the _Molga_ into a sprint, but the _Wild Weasel_ kept up its strafing. Its missile boxes popped up wide open and missiles burst in long white trails of smoke. Half of them hammered the Molga on the left side, setting major fire on the shell compartment. The _Molga_ cried out in urgency, telling Duke that one more shot like that and all would be lost.

In desperate move, Duke turned the _Molga_ around to face the _Wild Weasel_ head on. Another set of missiles were loaded into the missile boxes, but Duke trained his artillery cannon and shot the _Gun Sniper_ in near point-blank range. The rushed shot only hit the ground but it was so close to the _Gun Sniper_ that the shockwave managed to topple the Raptor-like zoid. It fell on its right side, crushing its gatling gun and missile launcher on the right.

"Sonofabitch! I'm down!" Dakota yelled as his _Gun Sniper_ writhed on the ground, struggling to get up.

"I should've killed that Helic Master Tech when I had a chance!" Falco grumbled in exasperation.

"Then why didn't you?" Stelvio taunted him as he positioned his _Helcat_ right in front of Falco's _Bear Fighter_. "Maybe you should have killed her, so I don't have to worry about bringing you in. I could've just shot you down for good!"

"You are finished, old man! You are nothing but a shadow of your former self!" Falco, who was usually cool and calm, started to get nervous.

"Yet who have lost half of his firepower?" the Sherriff replied. "Duke and I are still standing, while two of your friends have been out of commission. Surrender while you can, pirate!"

The _Bear Fighter_ hurled a long, angry howl, then lunged at the _Helcat_ with its claws extended open. The _Helcat_ wasn't deterred. The boosters erupted, propelling the metal feline like a bullet straight into the _Bear Fighter's_ midst. It didn't have melee weapons like the _Bear Fighter_, but its raw speed was more than enough to counter the _Bear Fighter's_ hardened claws. The two met in the center, claws against blunt force, in a cloud of debris and zoid body parts. The bear's claws tore a grisly gash on the cat's left side. Gear fluid and ripped body parts poured out like blood and gristle. But the cat rammed itself onto the bear's torso, so hard the front armor caved in and cracked the generator's casing. Sparks and smoke burst from the torso.

The ferocity of the impact threw both zoids backward. The _Helcat_ spun wildly on the air before rolling and skidding on the ground, then stopped in a puddle of its own fluid. The _Bear Fighter_ – being the heavier and bulkier one – stumbled on its back, and its own body weight crushed its turret on its back.

The _Hammerock_ moved in to a position to launch its missiles at the downed _Helcat_, but Duke dragged his battered _Molga_ and aimed the artillery cannon at the _Hammerock's _blind spot.

"Don't think about it," he snarled. "Push that trigger and I'll blow you a new hole on your head!"

The _Bear Fighter_ clambered up slowly, painfully, and assumed another fighting stance. The Helcat still writhed on the ground, but eventually managed to pull itself up. Both zoids had the guts and grits to continue the duel to its final fatality, but both pilots had acknowledged that there was nothing left to prove. The fight was over… for now.

"Mount up, Black Knight," Falco's voice crackled on the comlink, interspersed with static. "We're leaving."

"Stay out of my town, Falco," the old sherriff grunted. "If I ever see you around, I will kill you."

"We'll finish this by then," Falco backed the _Bear Fighter_ slowly. "You'd better arm yourself with bigger toys. And bear in mind that Helic Master Tech will not be around forever."

"Is that a threat, Pirate?" Duke tuned in.

"That is a threat, and I mean every word!" Falco hissed. "Better watch your back."

"We'll be here, Black Knights!" Duke roared. "We'll be here! Give it all you've got because we're waiting for you!"

"Alright, Duke, that's enough," Stelvio inched toward the truck. "Looks like they don't want their treasure stash anymore. Master Tech, there's your truck."

It might not be a treasure for the pirate gang, but it surely was for Saskia.


	18. Chapter 17 - Dive Into Obscurity

**SEVENTEEN**

**DIVE INTO OBSCURITY**

_**New Helic City,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**October 4, ZAC 2121**_

"We have the means. We have the soldiers. All we need is a solid strategy. Then we ride, war, and win."

Hours of staring into the gleaming holographic map made Diavel's eyes teary. The map overlooked the vast Delpoi continent with highlights on cities, fortress, mountains, ruins, deserts, and places that Krauser thought would be a great striking place for the Guardian Force. While the entire hologram hovered above the table in dim light blue, the highlights were bright yellow and red, and those rays had been stabbing Diavel's retinas for the last four hours.

But Krauser kept on going like he was high on caffeine. The brainstorming had entered the 7th hour but he was as enthusiastic as ever, canvassing the entire Delpoi continent, looking for the best placement of his troops to hit the positions of the Guardian Force. Diavel understood that Krauser wanted to end this conflict, then moving forward to another potential conflict with the Guylos. But his gusto scared him. He looked as if he was looking for ending the conflict on the very next day.

But perhaps that was the reason that Krauser is the General of the Army, and Diavel was just a Major.

"Mount Iselina is a great ambush site for the Guardian Force," Krauser mulled over the large mass of land. "We don't have enough zoids to cover the entire base, and the Guardian Force knows that. This is going to be our hot spot. Somehow we have to dedicate a large amount of zoids to take Mount Iselina."

"But even though we have enough zoids, they have the higher ground," Diavel mused. "We may be able to take it, but the casualties can be catastrophic."

"What are you suggesting?" Krauser cocked his eyebrow.

"Perhaps there is a better option than head-on assault," Diavel said carefully as not to offend the general. "We can besiege the mount and force them to come down to us. Here, on level ground, Helic has the advantage."

"And risk the war of attrition?" Krauser covered his mouth with his hands. "We don't know how deep they have dug their way on Mount Iselina. There are also settlements and colonies over the mount that may be helping the Guardian Force. We can't close all exit points."

"Then what's your plan, Sir?"

Krauser took a moment to ponder. "The _Gojulas Gigas_ have enough speed to cover great ranges, and the firepower to overwhelm Guardian Force strength on Mount Iselina even with severe disadvantage. The problem is we don't have enough _Gojulas Giga_ to cover Mount Iselina and New Helic City."

"Split the force?" Diavel blurted.

"No. I don't like it. I want recon. A lot of recon. Take your most elite units and scout Mount Iselina 24 hours a day. Run tight aerial reconnaissance. I want you to map every rock, every valley, every crevasse, every pass, and every village. I want you to report to me every movement you see on daily basis. I want to know what those bastards are preparing."

That was a little too egregious for Diavel's taste. He didn't have any problem with heavy reconnaissance if – and only if – the position of the enemy has been found, so the heavy recon was a necessity to monitor enemy's movements every hour. But that was not the case with Krauser. He didn't know where the Guardian Force stationed its bulk army. He was just acting out of his own hunch. And to dedicate this many assets for something that was still indefinite…

"It's not my place to argue with you, Sir," Diavel tried to induce sense to Krauser's plan. "But we do not know if the Guardian Force main army is at Mount Iselina. We are just pinpointing."

"Are you questioning my decision?" Krauser pricked his head and threw his venomous stare at Diavel.

"No Sir, I am not. I just can't justify the weight of this effort if the goal is not in plain sight. And neither can President Bonneville and the Senate. They will question the gravity of the situation considering the focus on Mount Iselina."

"They will not know about this operation."

"Sir?" Diavel grimaced in utter confusion.

"They will not know about this operation because we will not tell them," Krauser growled as he zoomed in on the holographic image of Mount Iselina. "They have been nothing but a hindrance to my maneuver. If they granted the _Gojulas Giga_ under my command half a year ago, the war would've been ended by now. Not again! Not anymore. I am in charge of this operation, not them! I decide what to do."

"They will know sooner or later…"

"No they won't! Have your men to shut their mouths! This is critical, Diavel! We cannot afford a mistake! That is why it is important to have your best, most loyal men do this operation. I want some men with blind loyalty that follow you like ducks to do this job. Give them your orders and answer no questions! Do you understand, Major?"

Diavel didn't know where this was going anymore. Krauser's orders had gone incomprehensible with every passing minute. There were too many holes in his strategy, something that a General of the Army shouldn't have made. However, he was a soldier, and a soldier's job was to follow order. Krauser was the General of the Army, and Diavel was just a Major. No matter how dissatisfying it was, it was the truth.

"Yes, Sir," that was just about the only thing Diavel could say.

"Dismiss, Major. It's late. Start the operation tomorrow. The sooner we get this done, the better."

* * *

Diavel was dead tired, but Krauser's illogical standpoint left a bitter taste at the back of his mind, so he opted to cool off in a nearby diner. Alcohol was always the best way to end a bad day at work. He emptied his first and second shot glasses in 10 seconds, then leaned back on his chair as the liquor coursed through his veins. The waitress filled his third round, but he saved it for later. Two shots were enough for now.

"Somebody is having a bad day."

Diavel recognized that voice, but for a moment his mind refused to believe what his ears caught. He knew he was intoxicated, so he had to look up to confirm it. Unfortunately, his ears were telling the truth. It was Mio, the president's daughter, alone, draped in a *very* provocative outfit. His blood gurgled in his veins, and there was a raucous urge to drag Mio out of the diner to his quarter and tore up that dress for his own delight, a feeling that didn't come very often. But again, he knew he was drunk.

Diavel mustered all energy to stay decent and stood up in perfect stance.

"Oh, please, you have to stop doing that!" Mio quickly took a seat in front of him. "We talked about this. Can you see me more than just the First Daughter of Helic Republic? Try it now."

"Miss Mio, you are the First Daughter of Helic Republic," Diavel refused to get too acquainted with Mio, no matter how much he wanted to. "Where is the Secret Service?"

"It's after hour, Diavel! And I don't need baby sitters! I can take care of myself! Why can't you loosen up? Does the military mean so much to you that you are not willing to have a personal life because of it?"

"I am a soldier of the Helic Republic," Diavel snarled involuntarily. "I do not have that luxury. You are my boss' daughter. My responsibility to protect you does not have time boundary."

"Is that so? What do you think my father will say if he knows you're protecting me drunk?" Upon hearing no response from Diavel, Mio continued, "Shed the shield of military and politics, and underneath we are the same human beings, you and I. I am not here as the First Daughter, and I'm sure you're not here as a major and the CO of Helic Republic Air Division. Right? Right?"

"So why are you here?" Diavel sat back down.

"I see somebody in need of a friend. Wanna talk about it?"

"You won't be interested."

"Friends listen anyway."

"Do you trust me as a friend?"

Mio shook her head in exasperation. "You've been in the military for so long that you barely have humanity anymore, Major Diavel. You don't know how to be a friend to anybody anymore."

Sad, but true. A quick recap of Diavel's life revealed that he, indeed, had no real friends. His entire life was dedicated for Helic Military. It was the life he chose and it was the life he was proud of, until Mio pointed out how much he was missing to pay off for his pride. He knew there was a price for everything, but now he was wondering if he had been paying too much.

"Very well," Diavel decided to venture to this new, unknown territory. "General Krauser and I had been planning to end the conflict with the Guardian Force. With the _Gojulas Giga_ in our commands, a large amount of new recruits coming in to fill our ranks, and a solid strategy, we could end the conflict in two-month time. However, we tried to build this solid strategy but General Krauser kept making decisions against my better judgment. I am not at the liberty to give you details, and I understand that I can't always agree with Krauser, but his plan blatantly broke fundamental military strategy I have known since the academy. I feel like we are not seeing the same thing anymore. But as a soldier, I am to do it. I will have to execute a plan I do not think logical."

Mio replied with a gentle smile. "Now you know how I feel."

"President Bonneville is your father. The situation is completely different."

"What's the difference? We're both forced to do things we don't like to do."

"Your father wants only your well-being. Krauser does not care about me. There are hundreds and thousands of military operatives that are as capable as me to lead the Air Division. If I die, or if he as much as doesn't see me fit to do my job anymore, he'll just pick another one to replace me."

His comment sent Mio to lean back on her chair, eyes fading away from the reality into her own world. It made him tighten uncomfortably in his seat. He knew that Mio's relationship with her father was not great, and she might see his backing up of President Bonneville as taking his side. This was the reason he didn't like to get too acquainted with anybody.

"I apologize, I didn't mean to bring it up," Diavel said morosely. "I think we'd better call this a night…"

"My father is a stubborn, opinionated sonofabitch who wouldn't listen to anybody, but he is scared of General Krauser," Mio said softly as if trying to avoid eavesdropping. "He said that General Krauser was the best thing ever happened to Helic Republic since the Guardian Force during Van Flyheight era, but the worst thing ever happened to him since he's the president."

"What?" Diavel's eyes almost popped out of the sockets. "Why does he think of Krauser that way?"

"My father is a peace-loving individual. Krauser is a hot-blooded, trigger-happy, loose-cannon combatant who solves everything via gun power. Everything, everybody around him is within a pull of a trigger. In a sense, it's a good thing because he keeps Guylos Empire reined in, but anybody that opposed him will ultimately perish. I mean, look at the Guardian Force. My father is a big fan of the Guardian Force, but even he couldn't do anything to prevent Krauser to alienate the Guardian Force when it stood against him."

"The Guardian Force attacked Helic Republic. That makes it the enemy of the Helic Republic."

"My father does not believe that. The Guardian Force is founded to uphold peace. Violence and terrorism are not in its doctrines. It just doesn't have it in its blood."

She was right. That was the way Diavel learnt during his academic years. As the years progressed, things changed, and so his perspective toward the Guardian Change deteriorated. But his single-mindedness prevented him to see the conflict from another angle. Something didn't make sense in the entire situation.

"Then why do you think the Guardian Force acts this way?" he mused.

Mio let out a long sigh. "Who knows?"

Too much things to ponder about (and the alcohol, for sure) made Diavel's head throb. His body had reached the threshold. As much as he wanted to stay and talk with Mio, he couldn't do it any further. He was absolutely beat.

"It is the most interesting night I had ever had in years, Mio," he got up and bowed slightly. "But I have an early day tomorrow. Thank you for sharing your insight and listening to me. I will think about this encounter for a long time."

"I will think about _you_ for a long time," Mio smiled and shot a naughty wink at him. "Good night, Diavel."

An image of wild romp of Mio and him flashed at the back of his mind, but before any other delusion poisoned his brain – and his rectitude –, Diavel smiled back and briskly walked out of the diner. He embarrassed himself enough. He shouldn't have taken those two shots.


	19. Chapter 18 - War of Deception

**EIGHTEEN**

**WAR OF DECEPTION**

**Review Corner:**

**randomcat23**: Thank you always for your support! I'm glad the few last chapters work great to your liking. Sometimes somebody just needs a break from a string of bad luck. Saskia's fate will change but it won't be easy (*hint hint*)

**Algamic**: Diavel has to rein himself in for now but "relieve" will come. So stay tuned ^_^

* * *

_**Aspencade Fortress,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**October 15, ZAC 2121**_

Saskia was amazed that, despite so many laborers and engineers flooding Aspencade Fortress to rebuild the structures, nobody had found the cave where the _Gilvader_ rested. The entrance was not particularly well-hidden; a five-minute detailed gaze would reveal the burrows. But perhaps that was what most people lacked: time to sit down and do nothing but to look at the rock formation. The best place to hide was always _in plain sight_, because that was where most people would look _last_.

It worked best for Saskia. Helic operatives were too busy rebuilding the fortress to notice the cave, and even to realize that some of the heavy equipments were missing. Of course, Saskia "borrowed" the machineries on a weekend to install the armor platings to the zoid. The only difficulty she found was to fine-tune the bolt holes of the armor plates with the bolt holes of the _Gilvader_ since she was doing it alone. But with no one to distract her, she had all the time and focus that she needed.  
And now the mighty beast had a set of new clothes, black segmented platings with purple tints at places, returning the once fearsome machine back to its glory days some 70 years ago. Its wings spread from corner to corner, occupying the entire spread of the cave interior. Its tail had to be tucked behind its body for the cave was not long enough to contain its entire 125-foot span. The reflection of the sunray now became more prominence, but also more macabre. Every curve, every gleam reeked death, giving a small hint of what it was during its golden days, even though the zoid was still knocked out cold at the bottom of the cave.

Saskia stood for a long time on the ledge, the place she saw the _Gilvader_ the first time, looking at the metal beast with utmost glee, respect, and fear. Such a machine that almost – _almost_ – brought Helic Republic to its knees lied docile under her feet. Feeling that she had control of the deadly beast gave her a mixed sense of pride and guilt. She knew the horror of _Death Saurer_ many years ago. What if the _Gilvader_ went on a rampage through the Helic Republic the way the _Death Saurer_ did? What if innocent people suffered because of her ambition?

But just imagine how much control she had over the 330-ton zoid when she sat in the cockpit. Imagine the firepower she had at the tip of her fingers. And imagine the height she could reach when it took off, kissing the outer edge of the atmosphere with speed no other zoid had or would ever possess. And to think that she went through all sorts of malice and hell to fix the armor of the _Gilvader_…

One thing for sure: Saskia wasn't done yet.

"You're looking very handsome in your new coat, Gilvy," Saskia mumbled to herself as though the _Gilvader_ could understand what she was saying. "You look just the way I imagine. Will you ever wake up? I don't know if you ever will. I'm just probably wasting my time and money on you. But you don't disappoint. If ever you're alive, everybody will look at you like they're looking at the God of War himself. You are the badass-est zoid I've ever seen!

"Unfortunately I don't know how to fix your core, Gilvy," Saskia walked to access the core bay door under the _Gilvader's_ massive neck. "You're an antiquity, and you're made by the Guylos Empire. Looking for a replacement for your core will be like looking for a needle on a haystack. I can get the Gravity Cannons and Beam Smashers, but that may be as far as I can go. Barring miracles, looks like you're stuck down here forever.

"But chin up, old zoid! Better go down in style than live in mediocrity! I'll get your Gravity Cannons and Beam Smashers, and soon you'll be looking like your old self again!"

* * *

_**Somewhere in the desert,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**October 1, ZAC 2121**_

The Gravity Cannon was a massively destructive weapon, both for the shooter and the target. It fired a shell called Plana Tellasite, a kind of material so densed that it created a black hole effect. Anything within the proximity of the explosion would be "swallowed" and torn apart by the black hole. A small-sized Gravity Cannon could knock out a large zoid.

But the destructive power of the Gravity Cannon was not without much drawback. It needed an ungodly amount of power to propel the Plana Tellasite, that only the largest zoids with strong core could use it. Smaller zoids like _Dead Border_ could carry Gravity Cannon, but it had to be powered by _deochalcum,_ a substance known to corrode everything in contact with it, including the zoid itself.

Still, the Gravity Cannon was a favorite among heavy hitters, and was manufactured in decent numbers.

Saskia browsed for vendors and manufacturers that might still produce the Gravity Cannon, but unfortunately the weapons were largely discontinued, and ones that were still in production were in city-levelling size for use with the _Ultrasaurus_. Smaller Gravity Cannons had been phased out by shorter, more manageable laser blade weaponry.

But venturing to junkyards and zoid tradings, Saskia obtained information that a zoid trader named Fat Bob had several small-sized Gravity Cannons, just like the ones used in _Gilvader_. Unfortunately, this Fat Bob guy had a bad reputation as a ruthless man. He had been known to steal, rob, blackmail, even murder people to get zoid parts he liked, then he sold them with ridiculous price. Saskia had been warned to not deal with Fat Bob if it wasn't absolutely necessary.

Unfortunately, no one else had what she wanted.

Fat Bob lived nomadicly in his caravan, moving from one place to another in search of zoid parts, so it took Saskia a while to track him down. When she knew exactly where he was, she took several days off from the military and set on a cruise to find the elusive man. She knew that Fat Bob would sell the Gravity Cannons far beyond what she could afford, so she armed herself with offers he might not want to pass. The guy liked his money, so she doctored several plans to double, triple, or even quadruple his money, in exchange for the Gravity Cannons.

Fat Bob's caravan consisted of two giant _Hover Cargos_, escorted by several _Gustavs_ towing multiple trailers full of zoid parts. Half a dozen _Sinkers_ floated above the caravan, watching out for potential desert pirates or scavengers that might try to steal parts from the convoy. The _Gustavs_ were also armed with machine guns and small lasers, although they were meant mostly to repel infantry since no zoid would take damages from such small-caliber weapons.

The _Sinkers_ spotted Saskia's truck from quite a distance, and quickly moved in to stop her. Saskia understood the skittish nature of the _Sinkers_, so she quickly turned off her engine and climbed out of her truck, showing them that she was completely harmless. The _Sinkers_ circled above her for some time, and not until she raised her hands that one of them landed in front of her in an aggressive, threatening pose.

As the _Sinkers_ continued to circle above her, the landed _Sinker_ expelled its pilot, who slowly advanced toward her with a rifle aimed straight at her head.

"Who are you?" the pilot asked. "What do you want?"

"I'm looking for a deal," Saskia said firmly.

"What do you have?"

"My deal is with Fat Bob, not you. Bring me to Fat Bob."

"I don't take orders from you! Go away or I'll kill you right here, right now!"

"I'll go, but if Fat Bob knows what he's missing, he will not be happy with you, and you know how he is when he's unhappy with somebody."

That last bluff proved to be working. The _Sinker_ pilot paused for a good moment as he weighed his decision. Saskia could see from his eyes that the guy was torn between taking Saskia to meet Fat Bob for a good deal, or just letting her go or even killing her lest she just wasted Fat Bob's time. That was very typical of thugs like him. If his master was happy, he was rewarded handsomely. If not, then he could pay it with his life. It was always money or death.

In the end, his greed won out. He motioned at Saskia to walk in front of him toward the _Hover Cargos_ while he walked two steps behind her, pointing his gun at her back. It was quite a walk, almost a mile, and Saskia's sneakers were full of desert sand when she arrived at the _Hover Cargos_. Saskia had never seen a _Hover Cargo_ up close, and the size of the transport took her breath away. One _Hover Cargo_ was bigger than a typical barrack building at Helic Military and was capable of transporting multitude of zoids with comfort.

The _Sinker_ pilot hailed his boss inside. About a minute later, he came down the ramp. Fat Bob was, like his namesake, fat. He was heavily built, with a leather vest that he couldn't zip over his rotund potbelly, a leather chap, leather boots, leather bandana covering his short blond hair, and dark glasses. He munched happily on his cigar as he stared down Saskia from head to toe.

"This broad says she has something that may be of your interest, Boss," the _Sinker_ pilot croaked.

"My name is Saskia van Leewenhoek. I am a master technician at Helic Military. I know places where you can get high-quality, military-grade zoid parts for free."

"Really?" Fat Bob smiled, puffing clouds of smoke from between his teeth. "Where?"

"You're probably aware of an escalating conflict between Helic Military and the Guardian Force," Saskia laid out her plan and prayed that Fat Bob would buy it. "Skirmishes happen on daily basis. Some areas are littered by high-performance zoids, most of which are in repairable condition. With most of Helic Republic effort is directed at rebuilding Aspencade Fortress, the Helic Military Engineering Team does not have enough manpower to salvage zoids from the battlefields. I can take you to some of the most unguarded area to salvage parts. You can make a fortune."

"My guys can do it themselves," Fat Bob huffed. "I don't need you to do it."

"You don't know the schedules and the routes of Helic patrols. You can get ambushed by heavy task forces. You need a guide to get to the zoid mine."

"And I guess you are willing to be the guide?" Fat Bob sniggered. "At what price? What's in it for you?"

Saskia drew a deep breath before answering, "I need four of your Gravity Cannons."

Fat Bob's smile immediately disappeared, replaced by a sour straight face. He looked at her intently, puffing globules of smoke from his nose in the process, then took out his cigar and said, "I don't have them."

"You don't have them?" Saskia cringed.

"I don't have them."

"Funny, because I've looked everywhere, and every single trader I met mentioned your name."

"Well I don't know what goes through their heads. I never had them, and I never will. I am not interested in parts that I can't sell. Gravity Cannons are obsolete. They're heavy, they're taking too much power, and they're dealing too much collateral damage. Everybody wants laser blades nowadays."

Saskia watched his expression carefully. It was hard to see his eyes behind the shades, but his body language spoke loud enough. He was lying through his teeth. He had them, but for some unknown reason he didn't want to sell it to her. It was totally unexpected, because he was known to sell rare and exotic zoid parts for very high price. Parts like the Gravity Cannons. And what did a guy like Fat Bob care about collateral damage? It was all about money for him.

Something spooked him, that was for sure.

"Please understand that I am not representing Helic Republic," Saskia pressed on. "This is a personal request, and I can get into trouble if Helic Military finds out about this. Please, Mr Fat Bob, I need those Gravity Cannons."

"I can't give you what I don't have," Fat Bob turned his back at her. "Sorry, kid, but you don't have a deal. Take my advice and go with laser blades. They're lighter, easier to handle, more energy-efficient, and much cleaner than Gravity Cannons."

"But…"

"Hey!" the _Sinker_ pilot nudged Saskia's shoulder with his gun. "The Boss said no deal. Now beat it! Go!"

Dejected and beaten, Saskia walked away from the _Hover Cargos_, wondering why her quest turned to an unexpected end. _Why did the Fat Bob deny an opportunity of making money? That was so atypical of a guy who made a name for himself inciting violence and misery upon others to make money_. Perhaps he was petrified by Saskia's job. Perhaps he was afraid that this was just a trap. Or perhaps he never saw Saskia as somebody that could benefit him in any way. Perhaps she shouldn't have mentioned her rank. Saskia would never know.

But to think that Saskia would just give up and leave was an understatement.

"You're not the only one that can play this game, Fat Bob," she said to herself as she arrived at her truck. "I know you have them. If it's the hard way you want, then it's the hard way you'll get!"


	20. Chapter 19 - Reversal of Fortune

**NINETEEN**

**REVERSAL OF FORTUNE**

**Review Corner:**

**randomcat23**: Thank you always for the continuing support. It's hard to resist dumping information about the Guardian Force, but I think I can still manage. More hints on this chapter.

* * *

_**Somewhere in the desert,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**October 22, ZAC 2121**_

"I'm so gonna regret this!"

Saskia didn't know why it bothered her so much that Fat Bob lied to her. He was not interested in her deal. That was all there was to it. Plain and simple. It didn't go along with her plan, but that was her life. Nothing went as she planned. All she needed to do was to suck it up and go on with her life.

But this _Gilvader_ thing had become an unhealthy obsession to her. She couldn't accept the fact that her mission couldn't be accomplished just because Fat Bob wouldn't sell the Gravity Cannons to her. Worse yet, she couldn't accept his lies. Why? Why lies? What was he afraid of? What was he hiding? Was he hiding from Helic Republic? Why couldn't he just sell the Gravity Cannons to her?

These questions, along with the urge that she had to have the Gravity Cannon, prompted to sneak into Fat Bob's caravan. Saskia understood that she was being recklessly unreasonable. She knew she couldn't justify risking her life for some Gravity Cannons that might – or might not, but she was pretty sure they did – exist in Fat Bob's inventory. And even if she were right, even if the Gravity Cannons were there, what was she supposed to do next? Steal them? There was no possible way to transport the Gravity Cannons out of Fat Bob's _Hover Cargo_.

But in the end, against all that logic, she just had to do it.

The moonless night was near pitch black, and the only source of light came from Fat Bob's caravan. All _Sinkers_ had been grounded, replaced by sentry, or thugs with automatic rifles, scurrying the desert in the _Hover Cargos'_ close proximity. Some thugs gathered up around two bonfires, chattering and laughing and cursing unintelligibly. Others wandered in the dark, watching for possible threats.

Saskia investigated the caravan for sometime from a nearby rock formation. Fat Bob sure was feeling insecure, evident from the amount of watchdogs he employed to guard his possessions. And that was understandable. Words on the desert said horrible things about him, about how he compiled his possession, and how he treated his rivals. The more he had in his inventory, the more enemies he made, and eventually they would love to see him fall.

"What am I doing?" Saskia muttered to herself exasperatedly. "This place is a lion's den! What am I doing?" She couldn't justify the risk she was taking. She was not just sneaking up on a zoid trader, she was sneaking up on a very dangerous zoid trader.

And yet, she crept forward.

The night gave her sufficient cover from the thugs as she crawled slowly, steadily, toward the _Hover Cargos_. The thugs were mostly ignorant, oblivious to her presence. They didn't think that an unarmed woman would have the guts to infiltrate the caravan. Saskia mustered every bit of skill she learnt during boot camp and inched forward, keeping her posture close to the ground.

A couple armed men decided to leave the bonfire and walked around the caravan, eventually stopped inches away from Saskia. Although the dark blanketed her body, she was lying on the open field without any cover, and all it need for the thugs to find her was one good look at her direction. Her heart beat twice as fast and her breath came in labored gasps, but she gathered all the energy to keep herself quiet.

"C'mon, whachya got?" one of the thugs asked impatiently.

"This stuff is hot down at Europa," the other drew some kind of a box from his pocket. "It'll make you hot and hard all night, and then some."

"Does it guarantee satisfaction?"

"Man, nobody guarantees contraband! What are you thinking?"

"Why is it contraband? People can make a fortune selling this stuff!"

"Helic Republic policy of no recreational drugs. This stuff is legal in Europa, although not for long."

"Why?"

"When Helic takes control of Europa, this will be contraband too. Then we'll have to go to Nyx to get it, if it's not contraband already by the Guylos."

"What do you mean 'when Helic takes control of Europa'?"

"What, can't you see what's going on here? Do you know how many troops Helic Republic is recruiting? It is flooded with cadets! For what? Fighting the Guardian Force? The Guardian Force is just a pinprick in Helic Republic's eyes! If a nation starts recruiting in large number, there is only one possibility…. Invasion."

"Invasion of Europa? Really, now? Are you taking too many of these blue pills, man?"

"Fine, don't believe me. Don't believe me that the blue pills will do you any good with the women, either. When you realize what you're missing, don't come crying to me!"

As the thugs moved away, Saskia lied down for a while, pondering what the thugs just conversed about. The thugs might just be talking nonsense, but it made sense to her. She started to see the thin line among recent events. Helic Military did experience an influx of recruits over the past 6 months in which she was a part of. But while her motivation to join the military was her father, most of the new recruits were cajoled by General Krauser's new plan to increase the wealth of military servicemen of Helic Republic, the most benefited of which were zoid pilots. And like moths flying to a flame, hundreds and thousands of high-school graduates raced to the boot camps to become zoid pilots.

Could it be? Could Krauser's plan be just a means to lure new recruits, because Helic Republic needed them to invade Europa Continent? But why Europa? Why not Nyx, the Dark Continent that was the home of Guylos Empire? Did President Bonneville and the Senate approve this plan? How come the president, who had been a staunch supporter of non-violence, agreed to such an aggressive strategy? And where was the Guardian Force in this new equation? Was it possible that the Guardian Force was actually trying to stop this invasion? But if it were true, then why destroyed convoys and the fortress and killed many young prospects?

So many questions, so little time. Saskia put all these questions at the back of her mind and continued her path toward the _Hover Cargos_. It was dark and quiet. She tiptoed around the perimeter of one _Hover Cargo_ to look for an opening, but after 20 minutes of moving in stealth, she couldn't find any opening. So she moved to the other one, just as an armed thug blasted a door open. Alcohol reeked from his breaths, and he was careless enough to leave the door open behind him. Saskia easily sneaked into the _Hover Cargo_ before the door shut close.

The interior of the _Hover Cargo_ reminded her of Helic Military headquarters. It was magnificent in height, doubly so in length, and it was actually bigger than the barrack she used to live in. A couple of _Sinkers_ were parked on the floor, and judging from the amount of unoccupied space Saskia would think that the _Hover Cargo_ could take a dozen more.

But zoids were not Saskia was looking for. She ventured deeper into the transport to find a door to the other section of the cargo bay. She made sure that nobody was there when she opened the door, then slipped behind it. The adjacent chamber was where Fat Bob stashed his parts. Saskia's mouth went dry as she inspected the pile of rare parts. Many people would want to pay a lot for some of the exotic parts, which sounded strange because Fat Bob seemed to store it for collection rather than trading.

And it took her less than 5 minutes to spot the ones she'd been looking for. Four Gravity Cannons in fair conditions lied on the ground. Saskia inspected them once more, but she couldn't determine if they were in working condition. Rust and corrosion covered the mouth of the cannons, a sure sign that they had not been fired in a very long time. The fact that the _Gilvader_ was missing all 4 or its Gravity Cannons, and Fat Bob had 4 of them in the same condition as the _Gilvader_ when she first saw it, made her believe that these were the actual cannons of the _Gilvader_. Fat Bob might just take the cannons from the zoid, but deemed the rest of the zoid unsalvageable.

That also meant Fat Bob knew the location of the _Gilvader_.

Unfortunately, her luck ran out. Two armed men came into the chamber, directly in front of Saskia. Both she and the thugs froze in disbelief, then one of the thugs raised his rifle. Saskia lunged at him with her left hand clubbing at his face. He was a scrawny man, and Saskia packed quite a bit of meat under her skin. The combination of Saskia's lunging movement and his own state of shock tripled the effect of the punch, and it knocked him out cold immediately. His gaunt frame jerked backward and rammed the other thug. He fell down, but not before inadvertently fired his machine gun to the ceiling.

"Oh crap!" Saskia knew what would come next. Those shots reverberated throughout the entire chamber, and more armed thugs would swarm the vicinity. She had to get out quick. She snatched the machine gun from the downed thug and slammed its butt at his head, taking him out. Then she ran as fast as she could.

Three armed thugs had made their way into the Hover Cargo, and fired at will as soon as they spotted Saskia. Bullets whizzed above her head and ricocheted on the metal wall. Saskia kept her head down as she kept her pace, gunning for the exit, but stopped right at the door. Every single thug outside was making their ways into the _Hover Cargo_ through the same door Saskia was using as an exit.

With three gunmen shooting at her from the back and two dozen more coming at her from the front, Saskia quickly ran out of time. She ducked and threw herself behind some crates, and got an idea when she saw the _Sinkers_. She climbed one of the _Sinkers_ and strapped herself on the command couch. The _Sinker_ groaned in protest, but Saskia quickly turned the zoid on to nominal condition.

"Please, don't do this now," she whispered, half begging. "Please get me out of here…"

The _Sinker's_ complaining purr turned into a frustrated wail, but Saskia slammed her foot on the pedal. The _Sinker_ jerked roughly in a series of objections, and fought for control with Saskia. She held the joystick tight while flooring the accelerator, forcing the _Sinker_ to glide forward through the door, and after what felt like hours of struggling, the _Sinker_ yielded.

But it just wasn't Saskia's luck with zoids. The _Sinker_ glided too close to the wall on its left, and Saskia overcompensated the joystick. The _Sinker_ spun uncontrollably and rammed itself onto the door. The _Sinker's_ scream blended with the sound of the horrible crash. Then it whirled like a windmill before crashing on the desert sand, upside down, busting both its rocket boosters.

Saskia should've kept herself on the ground.

Saskia's ears were still ringing when the thugs forced the cockpit open, then dragged her out. They immediately bound her hands behind her back, then forced her to stand up and towed her back toward the _Hover Cargo_, where Fat Boy was waiting.

"My, my, my, aren't you persistent," Fat Boy sneered. "Look what you did to my zoid! You are the worst zoid pilot I have ever seen."

"You lied!" Saskia growled weakly. "You have those Gravity Cannons!"

"And you are trespassing!" Fat Bob chomped on his cigar. "Who are you? Who do you work for?"

"I told you."

"Yet you make it impossible for me to believe you. One more time, lady, who are you, and who do you work for?"

"My name is Saskia van Leewenhoek, I am a Master Technician at Helic Republic. I mean you no harm. I only want the Gravity Cannons, nothing more, nothing less."

"So that's the game you want to play, huh?" Fat Bob chuckled hoarsely. "You should've talked when you had your chance." He turned to his guards. "Bring her inside! Let's see how tough she is!"

"No! No! I'm telling the truth!" Saskia cried out, but it wouldn't matter anymore. His demented grin and his body language told her that he wasn't really interested in the truth. He just wanted to see her in agony. And she knew it was going to be a rough night to go through… if she could go through it at all.


	21. Chapter 20 - Wind of Change

**TWENTY**

**WIND OF CHANGE**

**Author's Note**: 1000 hits! Whoo-hoo!

Thank you for all the guys that have been reading and enjoying this tale so far. I really appreciate the support. I'd like to know what you think of this story this far. Too slow? Too fast? Too much talk, not enough action? Too much action, not enough plot? Leave me some reviews so I know where to improve.

* * *

**Review Corner**:

**randomcat23**: I guess Saskia's obsession had gotten the best of her. Foolish, I know, but every one of us had done something against our best judgment. We're just humans, and to be human is to err. She'll learn her lesson, though.

* * *

_**New Helic City,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**October 23, ZAC 2121**_

Getting granted of the use of the _Gojulas Giga_ fleet initially boosted the morale of Helic Republic zoid teams. Who didn't want to pilot _Gojulas Giga_? Fast, agile, powerful, armed to the teeth, it was the pinnacle of Helic Republic zoid technology, and was destined to succeed the aging Gojulas as the backbone of Helic Military.

But it had been 2 months since the President and the Senate allowed the use of _Gojulas Giga_ fleet, and not a single _Gojulas Giga_ had been assigned to any units. Nobody had even seen the massive zoids. The anticipation slowly turned to aggravation, and some unit commanders started to question what was happening.

"Now tell me if I'm wrong," a colonel made an obscene gesture as he propped his feet on the table. "How many _Gojulas Giga_ do we actually have? General Krauser was granted permission to use it, but we never see them. My unit still has to fight the Guardian Force with crappy zoids. I'm loosing men like leaves in autumn!"

"A lot of bureaucracy comes into play," Diavel replied in Krauser's defense. "You just can't get the _Gojulas Giga_ days after the plan is agreed. A lot of paperworks have to be signed and filed. After all, the _Gojulas Giga_ is not a toy. It's a weapon platform, a very dangerous and lethal weapon platform. Care must be taken so the units do not fall into wrong hands."

"It's been two months, _ferrcrhissake_! How hard is it to file paperworks?"

"And who determines who's getting _Gojulas Giga_ and who's not?" another one spoke up. "We represent the bulk of Helic Army, but none of us has gotten any _Gojulas Giga_. Isn't that bothering you, Diavel, that you're not getting what you're promised?"

Now Major Diavel wasn't really interested in _Gojulas Giga_. He had his own squadron, equipped with the best and fastest aerial zoids available in Helic arsenal. His most elite warriors rode _Storm Sworder FX_, the fastest zoids in the whole world. And while his _Salamander_ was a far cry from _Gojulas Giga_ in terms of strength, durability, and firepower, it could go where the _Gojulas Giga_ couldn't. It could fly. That was all Diavel ever cared.

Nevertheless, he wanted to see the _Gojulas Giga_ in action. He wanted this conflict to end. Krauser promised him that if the _Gojulas Giga_ fleet was in play, the conflict would end shortly. But where were the _Gojulas Giga_? No ground unit had ever received them. Diavel understood that _Gojulas Giga_ would turn the tide of the conflict to Helic's way, but the zoids themselves wouldn't win the war. The harmony between the pilot and the zoid would be the key to success, and that would need time, adjustment, countless exercise, and understanding of each other. That would need growing pains.

"I have my own unit, thank you," Diavel scoffed. "I'm an aerial zoid pilot. I have no need for _Gojulas Giga_."

"We're not talking about the zoids," yet another officer sniggered. "We're talking about the promise. The promise Krauser gave us that this conflict would've ended if he had control of the _Gojulas Giga_. Well, he _did_ have control of _Gojulas Giga_. The President and the Senate gave it to him. But does he have the _Gojulas Giga_? That is the question."

"Are you accusing the President and the Senate are having a foul play?" Diavel cringed.

"I'm not accusing anybody anything. I'm merely stating the obvious."

"That's probably a good point," the first colonel dropped his feet and sat straight. "The President and the Senate never agreed about _Gojulas Giga_. Only because Krauser pressured them that they agreed, and if Aspencade didn't fall, they still wouldn't have budged. But they wouldn't let us get the zoids easily. They hide behind idiotic bureaucracy to keep us from having what we should have long time ago."

"You know this for a fact?" Diavel said curtly.

"Nobody here knows anything for a fact," the colonel hissed. "If there is somebody that knows something for a fact, that's you, Diavel. You're like Krauser's treasured pet that would do anything for a treat. Or a promotion, for that matter."

That last comment was jabbed at his closeness to Krauser, and that was uncalled for.

"We're not here to discuss how I got my position or how I got close to the chain of command, but if you want to know, I worked hard for everything I earned," Diavel let out a beastly growl, letting the colonel know that he did not take his comment lightly. "If General Krauser fancies me more than you, then you need to start looking at your career potholes before all is too late!"

"Tone yourself down, Major!" another colonel stood up and barked. "Don't forget you're talking to a ranking officer!"

"With all due respect, Sirs," Diavel boldly turned around and faced the other colonel. "My rank, my position, and my loyalty to the Helic Republic are not to be questioned! General Krauser uses me and my unit a lot because we are a solid, dependable unit. It was a team effort, not what I do to please General Krauser. I never receive preferential treatment that I do not deserve, so do not put this _Gojulas Giga_ problem on me!"

"Do you know where they are, Diavel?" somebody else spoke up. "Do you know who's taking them?"

"No, Sir, I don't!"

"Somebody should!"

"That's not me! I am a CO of Air Division! I do not need _Gojulas Giga_!"

"Gentlemen, I believe we are talking to the wrong person," somebody tried to bring sanity to the heated debate. "The only one that can answer these questions is General Krauser. So let's pipe down and have some drinks. We're not going to solve anything with hot heads. We'll talk again when we're cooled down."

"I'll drink to that!" the rude colonel sat back down and ordered more drinks, as if the conversation never happened.

Some went back to their regular chat, others left. Diavel was the only one who felt dejected. He was the one that would never get _Gojulas Giga_ no matter what, but he felt like he was the one that bore the responsibility of the late delivery of the high-performanced zoids. Sometimes people could not tell the difference between two separate things if they had just one thing in common. And it made him feel mad.

But deep down he realized that the hostility evolved from the frustration. Whatever Krauser was planning, he was destroying the morale of his own troops. As a soldier of the Helic Republic, Diavel bore the responsibility to make it right, and unfortunately the only one way to do it was the way he hated the most.

* * *

One would believe that after granted full access to the _Gojulas Giga_ fleet, General Krauser would spend more time in the field training his officers and most elite warriors to exploit the _Gojulas Giga_ for best use in the battlefield. What happened was the exact opposite to everybody's expectation. Krauser buried himself in his office, and the only time he came out was to talk to his favorite aide, Major Diavel.

Diavel could have waited until Krauser summoned him, but this time he didn't. He felt an overwhelming urge to set things right with Krauser, not only to appease his own curiosity, but also to calm down the rest of the armed force who began to question Krauser's strategy.

As soon as he arrived at Krauser's office, he knocked on the door.

"I told you not to come here when I'm working, Diavel," Krauser's voice reverberated from the intercom. "I will summon you when I need you."

"Sir, there is a dire situation we need to discuss," Diavel replied.

"Can it wait?"

"I'm afraid we do not have that luxury, Sir. If you wait, the damage may be irrepairable."

A minute passed without much action, then the door slid open. Diavel entered the chamber and snapped a quick salute to his superior, and was amazed at the chaos inside Krauser's room. One corner was cluttered with blueprints of Aspencade Fortress – or the reconstructed version thereof – while another corner was piled up with maps of Delpoi Continent. The center of the room was lit by a holographic image of the _Gojulas Giga_ with twin Republic Supercannons attached to its back, a variant highly resembled the fearsome _Gojulas Mariner_.

"So what is it that you want to discuss?" Krauser snorted as he turned off the hologram projector.

"There have been a lot of questions about the whereabouts of the _Gojulas Giga_," Diavel reported. "We were granted access to them, but no ground units have received any of them. Some units have become jittery about it."

"What do they think the _Gojulas Giga_ is? A toy?" Krauser mumbled.

"No, but you don't understand. They're coming at me with swords and guns blazing, asking why they hadn't seen any of the Giga's. One more week and they will crucify me."

"We're not ready."

"Sir, the morale is breaking," Diavel said, half pleading. "If we keep them in this situation for too long, Helic fighting units will be fighting us. We have to control this situation before they lose faith in us."

"Isn't it your job, Diavel?" Krauser turned his back at him. "We're on the situation room together. You know as much as I know how we are going to win this war. Tell them what you know without telling them too much about what you know. You're a Major and the Commanding Officer of the Air Division, Diavel. You know how to lie to support soldier's morale."

"I can do it if I know all the facts, Sir."

"And what facts are those?"

"Where are the _Gojulas Giga_?"

Diavel knew this question would flare the general, but he didn't expect it to be extreme. Krauser turned around and lanced Diavel with his fiery stare. "Do you have a problem with me running my army, Major?" he roared, his breath hot on Diavel's face.

"No, Sir…"

"Do you want to see the _Gojulas Giga_? Then find me something to shoot at! Find me the location of Guardian Force main base, or its main army, and I will bring the Giga fleet straight to the heart of the Guardian Force fortress! Do your job, and I will do mine!"

And suddenly, everything became Diavel's responsibility.

"Now get out of my office!"

Diavel hated to think that Krauser had another agenda, but the general's behavior forced him to think that way. Why was he going this route? Why not just distribute the _Gojulas Giga_ to Helic fighting units rather than keep them in the brink of mutiny? What secrets was Krauser holding? The questions lingered on his head long after he begrudgingly left Krauser's office.


	22. Chapter 21 - By An Inch

**TWENTY ONE**

**BY AN INCH**

**Note**: I omit the scene from the end of Ch.19 to this one because it's tasteless. But once I finished this story, I will put up the Director's Cut version on my deviantArt account. It'll be rated R, so I'll include everything I can't put in here.

* * *

_**Somewhere in the desert,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**October 24, ZAC 2121**_

The creaking sound of the cell door woke Saskia up. The bright light of the corridor fell on her face, hurting her eyes so much she squinted to ease the pain. But still she could see two guards coming into the cell. They grabbed her arms by the pits and hauled her away, out into the bright corridor.

Nothing much happened since Fat Bob's men stopped Saskia in her ill-fated raid. She just went back and forth from her cell to an interrogation room. For some illogical reasons Fat Bob believed that Saskia was employed by one of his enemies to take him down, despite her incessant denial. The interrogators grilled her hours after excruciating hours, but nobody took Saskia's honest answers as the truth. She was taken as a very tough girl, which was unfortunate in this situation.

The guards dragged the exhausted Saskia through the main cargo bay and down the ramp where Fat Bob and several other thugs were waiting. Two other captives were obviously treated the same manner as Saskia. Three _Demantis_ zoids were parked not far away from the caravan. The guards lined her up with the other two captives, facing the _Demantis_. Saskia knew they were not worth anything in Fat Bob's _Sinker_ squadron, so she had a bad feeling about their presence.

"I must hand it to you all for your dauntlessness, trying to harm in one way or another," Fat Bob grinned and puffed his acrid cigar smoke. "Congratulations, you have done only a few dared to even try. Now you have to prove your worth on the sand of Zi.

"Those _Demantes_ were your tickets to return home. Get them and get away from here."

Saskia knew Fat Bob would not let them go freely. After all, he thought that the three of them were trying to hurt him, so why awarded them with zoids and let them go? There must have been a twist behind this generosity, and Saskia was too scared to come up with one demented scenario.

"Oh, by the way, you have to be fast," Fat Bob grinned maliciously. "My _Sinkers_ are not as forgiving as I am."

Of course not. Fat Bob never meant to release them. He was using them as target practice, where they had to run in the Demantis and his _Sinkers_ would track them down and kill them in a hunting game. Saskia's hypothesis turned real faster than she wanted it to be. Four _Sinkers_ flew out of the hangar and floated impatiently behind Fat Bob.

"And as another side note, _Sinkers_ are skittish. They've been known to shoot humans."

That was a cue to quickly get into the _Demantis_ as the zoids would provide some protection, although probably not for long. But little was better than none. Saskia quickly broke into a sprint, which was painful considering her leg muscles were still weak and her feet were still cramped from abusive interrogation sessions. But she didn't have any choice. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her.

The other captives, both males, outran her and quickly took the best-looking _Demantes_, leaving one with the poorest condition for Saskia. They both took off, kicking sand at Saskia's head as she climbed the measly little zoid. A series of chirp burst as she strapped herself on the command couch. She put all power into the booster jets and slammed her foot on the accelerator. The _Demantis_ jerked but followed her demand in a flash.

Saskia watched her radar closely. The _Sinkers_ started to move out, and before long his proximity alarm rang. Two missiles latched onto her _Demantis_, racing in the sky with murderous intention. Saskia knew she only had seconds to evade the missiles, but unfortunately her _Demantis_ wasn't equipped with anti-missile system. So she cut off the booster jets and let the _Demantis_ fell to the ground. The missiles followed suit. As the missiles became closer, Saskia fired her jets and twisted her joystick, bringing the _Demantis_ to jump to the other direction. The missiles slammed home at the spot where Saskia stood not a second ago. The explosions shook the cockpit, rattling her teeth. Screens went static and sparks burst from busted circuitry. Cables splayed into the open, dangling from the ceiling and the cockpit wall.

But otherwise, she was still alive.

Saskia had been an utterly unlucky zoid pilot, but she was amazed at how responsive the _Demantis_ was at meeting her demand. The small infantry zoid never questioned her authority barring the first time when she barged into the cockpit without warning. It pulled Saskia's difficult maneuver easily, something that she should've been able to do with more complicated zoids like _Pteras_ or _Sinker_. Perhaps she should start with _Demantis_ the first time around. That would make a huge difference in her career.

"Atta boy," she complimented the zoid for the job well done. "Only a scratch. We can pull this off. Stay with me, Mantis. Stay with me."

The _Sinkers_ moved in again. Deadly laser beams strafed the _Demantis_, but since the _Demantis_ was so small and the _Sinkers_ were wide, the beams kept missing the target. Saskia hopped from place to place, crisscrossing her way as she gunned her jet. Laser bolts whizzed every which way. The _Demantis_ chirped and tweeted like it was hurting, but Saskia didn't have any better idea… until she checked the _Demantis_' weapon system.

The _Demantis_ had one operational gatling cannon on its arm, and a huge 8-barreled vulcan cannon at its back that could seriously hurt the _Sinkers_. The problem was the vulcan was facing rearward and necessitated an operator. Saskia couldn't drive and man the vulcan at the same time. She needed another person, or another zoids, or another team to pull this off.

Two other _Demantes_ would be perfect... if they were willing to cooperate.

"Guys! Guys!" she hailed the other two _Demantes_. "We can survive if we work together!"

"Just shut up and run!" one of them replied in a gruff.

"Listen to me! Two _Sinkers_ are on my rear! Set up a firing line and use the vulcans on your backs! I will take the _Sinkers_ to your line of fire!"

"What are you, crazy? Wanna take down _Sinkers_ with _Demantes_?"

"It will work! Trust me, it will work!"

"You wanna live, crazy woman? Run!"

"No, no! They're not expecting us to fight back! We have the element of surprise! Set up a firing line!"

"I'm not putting up with this!" one _Demantis_ decided to ignore Saskia and ran as fast as it could. Unfortunately a _Sinker_ got a hard lock on it and let loose a barrage of missiles. The _Demantis_ exploded into smithereens as the missiles blasted its booster outlet. Limbs and body parts flew in every direction as the infantry zoid disappeared into a cloud of fire and debris.

"I need a firing line!" Saskia yelled at the remaining _Demantis_, hoping that the demise of the third _Demantis_ would give him some sense. "Ignore me and we'll both die!"

"I'll pillbox up on that jutting rock at your three," the other _Demantis_ replied. His use of military jargons gave hint of his military background, which was good for coordination. "Tell me where you're coming in."

"Affirmative," Saskia replied. Growing confidence, she made a wide sweeping loop to the left. The _Sinkers_ fired everything they got, but Saskia forced the _Demantis_ to make erratic maneuvers, dodging laser bolts. The two _Sinkers_ grew impatient and before long they enlisted the other two _Sinkers_ for help, all latching on Saskia's small infantry zoid. The good part was the other _Demantis_ was temporarily forgotten. But the pressure on Saskia doubled in intensity to the point she thought she would never make it out alive.

Nevertheless, she managed – barely – to stay alive for the next 3 minutes, and now dashed toward the rock formation. Her HUD caught the image of the other _Demantis_, lining up its rear with her, with its pilot sitting snugly atop the big vulcan cannon. A wicked grin escaped her lips as she fired up her engine, eating the gap between the two Mantis zoid.

"Seven o'clock high!" Saskia cued the other _Demantis_.

"Got it!" the reply came in loud and clear. "Keep your head down!"

Tongues of fire burst from the gatling cannon, and a long trace of bullets leapt from the 8 barrels, zipping past Saskia's head. The closest _Sinker_ didn't see it coming and flew straight into the hailstorm. The armor-piercing round dug deep into the armor, tossing fragmented armor into a wide area, then eviscerated the engine compartment. A series of mini explosions rocked the _Sinker_, and it quickly nose-dove to the desert sand. A fireball blossomed and shattered the ground, followed by a billowing smoke and a shower of scorching zoid parts.

Not satisfied yet, the _Demantis_ pilot shifted his murderous cannon rounds to another _Sinker_. Half a dozen shells tore bad gashes on the _Sinker_'s left wing. Fire and smoke enveloped the wing, and the _Sinker_ began to stagger afloat. But the pilot wisely took evasive maneuver, away from the _Demantis_ lethal shots, and limped back home.

The remaining two _Sinkers_ were so petrified that they broke formation and left the two _Demantes_ alone. Saskia ceased running and steered her _Demantis_ to the rock formation to meet the other guy. She watched her radar lest the _Sinkers_ went back, but the ray-type zoids seemed to be spooked enough to come back.

"It did work!" the other guy chimed. "I can't believe it, but I shot down two Sinkers!"

"Too bad the other guy didn't believe me," Saskia replied. "You in the military?"

"No, SWAT. You?"

"Master Technician at Helic Military."

"Technician?!" the guy blurted, half screaming. "Girl, that maneuver you pulled off? That was one of the craziest things I've ever seen! You're a natural zoid pilot! What are you doing, working as a technician?"

Saskia sighed heavily. "Things don't always work the way I want them to work," she said, choosing her words carefully as not to reveal too much to the other guy. She didn't know who he was, so she wanted to be careful. "There are more things in becoming a military zoid pilot than pure talent."

"Somebody must tone the bureaucracy way down," the guy grumbled. "I mean, if somebody as good as you can't be a zoid pilot….."

Before the guy could finish his sentence, a blinding light blanketed the vicinity, and the _Demantis_ suddenly roared into a furious explosion. Saskia's _Demantis_ staggered backward, chastised by the violent shockwave and the flinging debris. Her ears rang and her teeth rattled so hard she almost bit her tongue off. Her radar screen ruptured, leaving her virtually blind in the desert.

Desperate, Saskia turned her _Demantis_ down to see what killed the SWAT guy. The _Sinkers_ were back, and they brought something else with them, something far more sinister, more demented than the four of them combined. It was a land zoid, stocky and burly and spiky, with high cut-off hump on its back. The hump served as a hub for almost 2 dozen assorted cannons, and all kinds of weapons were stacked on top of another. Laser cannons, plasma cannons, rail guns, ballistics, grenade launchers, beam gatling cannon, everything a pilot could only dream of.

"Oh no," Saskia whimpered. "Not this. Not a _Gunbluster_."

"Whoever you are, you are beginning to impress me," Fat Bob's voice blared into the _Demantis_ cockpit. "And honestly, pissing me off. Hats off for whoever hired you to hurt me. But now you're going to work for me. You're going to be a message for your employer that you all will not succeed! Nobody hurts me in my domain! Nobody!"

"We don't have a chance against this one, Mantis," Saskia floored the pedal. "Just run! Run like you never ran before! Give it all you got!"

But Fat Bob had his crosshair squarely against the small _Demantis_. He fired all guns in unison. Saskia heard the boom, and she knew what was coming at her. She pulled the joystick as hard as she could, but it was not enough. The _Gunbluster_ was simply too strong for the _Demantis_. The explosion threw the _Demantis_ into the air, spinning uncontrollably, then crash-landed on the sand. Its cannon-bearing forearm breached. Saskia's head throbbed in pain. Her world spiraled down into a grey tunnel, and she could do nothing but to lie down in the cockpit, gasping for air.

The _Sinkers_ glided steadily over the downed _Demantis_. Saskia was sure her life would end anytime soon, but nobody committed the killing blow yet. The _Sinkers_ were obviously waiting for their boss, whose _Gunbluster_ took its time to walk across the desert, certain that the _Demantis_ wouldn't be able to go anywhere.

"Nice shootin', Boss!" one of the _Sinkers_ gloated. "This will show 'em…."

And suddenly, out of nowhere, half a dozen missiles stabbed the _Sinker_ on the midsection. Burning splinters and zoid parts rained down on the _Demantis_, clattering and ricotcheting all over its body. The _Sinker_ slowly careened to the left side, then slammed into the sand, ending in a ground-shattering explosion.

The other _Sinker_ pulled up and engaged an evasive maneuver, but more missiles chased it down and ripped it apart, appendage after appendage, until both wings were torn apart like paper, and the Magnesser System couldn't sustain the weight of the zoid anymore. It staggered to stay up but a large missile rammed itself into the back of the _Sinker_. It exploded in a gigantic firework.

"I… HATE… FLYERS!" a much too familiar voice echoed throughout the desert. "I hate them all!"

Saskia thought she was hallucinating. Here she was, lying on the ground, waiting for death, and this guy, this vile, decrepit desert pirate, actually saved her life. It was too bizarre to comprehend, and Saskia had to drag her body up to see it herself. And sure enough, there it was, the same custom _Hammerock_ that seized her truck several weeks earlier, standing in pomp with its missile launchers blowing smoke.

"Falco and his goons," Fat Bob pulled his _Gunbluster_ back. "What a surprise! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Still hunting small zoids, I see," Falco's voice rang true on the comlink. His _Bearfighter_ strode past Saskia's downed _Demantis_, unaware of her presence, or he might've just assumed she was dead already. "How cowardly. With that big-ass zoid of yours, you should pick on somebody your own size."

"Like you?"

"Maybe like me. And if you want my advice, next time keep your flyers at home. You know Versys can't stand the urge to shoot them down!"

"Then let's get this over with, desert tramps! Come on, fight!"

The _Gunbluster_ showed its true nature, firing its cannons volleys after volleys. Falco's _Bearfighter_ ran in circle, rushing ahead of Fat Bob's vicious firepower, while taking potshots at Fat Bob's _Gunbluster_. Falco's friends joined the fray, showering the _Gunbluster_ with ballistics and laser bolts. But the _Gunbluster_ activated its electromagnetic shield. Very few shots went through it, and those which strong enough to bust through the shield was stopped dead by the thick armor of the Ankylosaurus zoid.

Saskia couldn't believe her luck. The desert pirates, the nasty boys who terrorized her when she was little, and the ones who almost killed her a little while ago, eventually became her guardian angels, although they didn't realize what they were doing. What a weird turn of event! Judging from Falco's conversation with Fat Bob, it looked like they had some unfinished business in the past. But Saskia didn't want to stay to find out. Nor she cared.

As the zoid trader and the desert pirates continued to trade blows, Saskia pushed her _Demantis _up and fired her jet, flying away from the inadvertent skirmish, until she couldn't hear the sound of explosions anymore.


	23. Chapter 22 - Change of Plans

**TWENTY TWO**

**CHANGE OF PLANS**

_**New Helic City,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**October 25, ZAC 2121**_

Saskia knew that missing several days of work would put her in hot water. She took a few days off, but because she was taken hostage by the wicked trader, she failed to report back to the military the day she said she would. And that was two days ago. She missed two whole days of work.

But she never expected to have to report to Major Diavel himself. It just happened that, while she was gone, the Air Division requested a large order from the Maintenance Group. Time was tight, so every head counted. And it just happened that everybody knew who missed work without report. The order was delivered late, and when somebody needed a scapegoat, there was nobody else to blame but her.

The Major's eyes were burning with rage as Saskia came to his presence. It was disheartening, thinking that Major Diavel was once her father's trusted wingman and partner. Now he had to remember her as the bad seed of her father's, one that fell far from the tree, or the black sheep of the family. If her father was still around, they would've gone separate ways just because of her.

"Master Tech Saskia van Leewenhoek reporting for duty, Sir," she croaked; her voice trembled.

"You are two days late," Diavel huffed. The strain in his voice was evidence of his restrain not to go full steam at Saskia, either in honor of her father or something else. "Where were you?"

"I was… I was caught up with some unforeseen problem…"

"What problem?"

"Problem with… some zoid part trader."

"Did Helic Military authorize you to deal with this zoid part trader?"

"No Sir, this is personal…"

"Are you saying you are skipping work for personal matter? Without communication with your superior?"

It was hard to justify her action without sounding too guilty, but in the end, Diavel put it right. There was no denying. "Yes, Sir," she confirmed his accusation. "I skipped work for personal matter."

"Do you think the military is a joke?" Diavel couldn't rein himself in any longer. "Don't you, after almost a year of fumbling and going through disaster after disaster, have a grasp of what we are going through? Do you think your father's name is enough to keep you here with very little effort? Is that what you think of the Helic Military? If you think you can stay here just by the grace of your father's good standing, you are sadly mistaken!"

It was an unfair judgement. Saskia felt she had worked as hard as, if not harder than, anybody else in the military. Being at the bottom rank of a military support group was oft neglected, working hard without fair recognition. Her Master Technician rank was the result of her hard work, not her father's name. She deserved that rank.

But the most painful of all was Diavel's assessment of using her father's reputation. Saskia had been working hard to climb out of her father's shadow, but whenever she made a mess, people always made prejudice comment about why she didn't live up to her father. It sickened her. She was who she was, an independent girl who loved her father so much that even the scantest thought of using her father's good standing for her advantage made her throw up.

Unfortunately, Diavel – and just about anybody else - would never see her beyond his partner's daughter.

"With all due respect, Sir," Saskia dared herself to speak up, but with tears welling up her eyes. "I am not my father, never was, never will be. I will never live up to his reputation. But I respect my father too much to make use of his name for my own advantage. What I have been doing wrong is mine and mine alone. Please, leave my father out of this. Remember him not as a fool that let his legacy be taken advantage by his daughter. Sir."

Her tearful statement sent Diavel spiraling into guilt. Only two days ago he was in the same situation as her, being accused of using his close relationship to General Krauser to catapult his own career. It was still vivid in his memory how he burst into rage, defending his good standing and hard work, and standing tall against the colonel's offense. He knew that was exactly how Saskia felt right now. The difference was Saskia was too weak to defend herself against him. Diavel felt like an absolute hypocrite.

However, she messed up too many times. Saskia had the heart of a soldier, but she never got a grasp of what it took to be a good soldier. She was trying too hard to be something that she was not in the first place. Truth to be told, Diavel had been giving her lots of excuse – more than he would give to any other soldier – in honor of her father. But she couldn't get any more preferential treatment without raising the favoritism flag. Something had to be done, and sadly, there was only one way out of this problem.

"You don't belong here, kid," Diavel sighed heavily. "Your days as Master Tech are over. Pack up your things and leave."

Saskia knew everything would come to this, but she still felt like hell. She felt like she betrayed her father and put a blemish on his record. But she agreed with Diavel, she didn't belong in the military. She tried her heart out to make it her home, but it was never and wouldn't be one. This firing might be the one thing she needed to get a break for her life. She just wished that she exited the military on a good term, not as a screwee.

"Sir," she snapped a salute, then started walking to the barrack to collect her belongings.

* * *

Jobless and without definite future, Saskia could only wonder what her pet project would be. The _Gilvader_ stood proudly inside of the cave near Aspencade Fortress, a testament of her craftiness in zoid engineering. But it was dead, and without money, it would only be a cave queen. It would never see daylight. Saskia still had the crippled _Demantis_ she "stole" from Fat Bob, but even if she could sell it, the money wasn't enough to buy anything for the _Gilvader_. It wasn't even enough to support her for a month.

She could, as a desperate effort, sell the _Gilvader_. The zoid was a highly-sought antique machine and should generate a lot of money, perhaps enough for her to set up a small zoid shop. She had the mechanical skill, so she could run a shop. After all, why would she need a zoid that didn't even run?

But the more she looked at the _Gilvader_, the more she hesitated. The _Gilvader_ had been a part of her life for quite some time, and she didn't have the heart to sell it. It was the closest proximity to accomplish her dream, if only she could find a way to fix its core. She could – and in the end she didn't have a choice but to – sell it, but she knew she would regret it for the rest of her life.

So she decided to make some calls.

"Hi, this is Saskia van Leewenhoek," she called the blacksmith at New Helic City. "Remember me? Two months ago I bought some high-grade armor platings from you."

"Saskia? Right, right, the Master Tech at Helic Military!" the blacksmith CEO chimed from the other end of the comlink. "How do those armor platings serve you? Do you like them on your pet project? I still think they're too heavy for your zoid, but I'm not the one who's zoid bashing, right?"

"Right, they fit perfectly," Saskia replied. "The thing is… I have been discharged by the Helic Military, so I have to put a halt on the project."

"Discharged? Well sorry to hear that…"

"Is there any way you can accept me at your plant?" Saskia said, half begging. "You have seen my work. I always put quality as my top priority. I had worked double shifts with no problem, and Helic Military can attest my claim. Although my strongest asset is zoid engineering, I can work with just any machinery. You know I can be beneficial for your company."

"Well, unfortunately, the company is not hiring at the moment," the CEO said, but Saskia could feel a hint of excitement in his voice. "But as a matter of fact, there is something you can do for me. You see, there's an old customer of mine that wants to have a high-performance zoid weapon done. We can't agree with the price, so I thought I could set you up with him to see what the two of you can come up with."

"I will try my best," Saskia took the opportunity without hesitation. "Name the place and time."

* * *

The customer was, for lack of better words, mysterious. He was draped in black and red cloth from head to toe, like a mummy from ancient human folklore, barring his leather gloves and boots. The only exposed thing on his body was his eyes, but they gave enough hints about his line of work. He wore a leather straps around his chest that sported two holsters underneath his arms. The stocks of the automatic pistols peeked from the holsters everytime the man moved his arms.

"This is my customer I told you about," the blacksmith CEO said to Saskia. "He is a bounty hunter known only by P150X. It's a privilege that you get to see him, Miss Saskia. He agrees to meet you because of your good work on my zoids, and he expects to have the same professionalism from you."

"In my line of work, the less you know about me, the better," the bounty hunter mumbled from under his tunic. "My vendor speaks highly of you. He has been building parts for my zoid for a long time, so I trust him. If he says you're good, then you're good… but don't get comfortable. I don't trust you yet."

"Fair enough," Saskia replied. The bounty hunter gave her quite some negative vibe. "What do you need?"

"I want a Hybrid Vulcan Cannon on my _Iron Kong_," the bounty hunter activated a holographic player on his hand. A small holographic image of a modified _Iron Kong_ popularized by Karl Schubaltz from Guylos Empire appeared. "There are mod-kits running around Zi, but unfortunately the only one I can find is owned by that slimy zoid trader Fat Bob. He charged me incredulous amount of money to have it. One of these days I can come to his place and shove that Hybrid Cannon up his ass!"

Saskia couldn't help but smile. She knew exactly what kind of man Fat Bob was.

"So I'm trying another alternative, which is to make the Hybrid Cannon from ground up," the bounty hunter continued. "But this guy charged me too high. I'm not keen on paying some rip-offs. I want the real thing."

"If money is your constraint, you can get good pre-owned weapons," Saskia suggested. "I may be able to find you one. The total price depends on how much I can get for the weapon. I charge low for my labor, but in the future I may need your service. So how about a trade, a service for a service?"

The bounty hunter paused for a while, staring at her from head to toe, weighing his decision whether to trust her or not. In the end, he decided to go for it. "Very well, Miss Saskia, you get your deal. I am a professional, and I live by my words. But fool me once, and I will find you. And believe me, you do not want me to find you that way. You understand, Miss?"

"Understood," Saskia replied. "I am too a professional, and I have my own reputation to hold."

"Good," the bounty hunter cackled. "I will wait for you."


	24. Chapter 23 - Dawn of The End

**TWENTY THREE**

**DAWN OF THE END**

**Review corner**: Thanks always to randomcat23 for your continuing reviews. You'll see Diavel more often… in fact, this chapter is for him… And things will look up for Saskia from this point on. Expect to see the 'bomb' in the next few chapters…

* * *

_**Somewhere in The **__**Desert,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**November 1, ZAC 2121**_

The final leg of his patrol run didn't excite Major Diavel even a bit. He had been covering almost a dozen Nav points, gliding over various terrains, in search for possible Guardian Force dugouts. His wingmen had been flying with him for 18 hours straight, without questions, and he knew they were tired and ready to go home. But Diavel didn't want to go home just yet.

His mind was filled with Saskia, the daughter of his deceased partner. He did what he thought the best course for everybody, most importantly for the Helic Military. But he couldn't get over the feeling that he cheated his partner. He still vividly remembered how Saskia's father told stories after stories about his daughter in exhuberance, proclaiming his pride to the world that his daughter shared the same interest as him. And Diavel was the one that cut her track short of following her father's footsteps.

But what else could he do? She compiled bad records after bad records like leaves in the fall season. She was a hard worker but she kept sabotaging her own career. Keeping her in the military could create a bad publicity amidst the conflict with the Guardian Force, something that could tear apart the Helic Republic at the most inopportune moment.

Diavel tried to imagine what Saskia's father would've done if he was the Air Division CO. Would he discharge his own daughter for Helic Military's sake? Or would he keep her daughter and risk the entire military to collapse over nepotism charge? If only he could ask.

"Nav Point Omega reached," one of his wingmen chimed. "No signs of activities."

The hopeful tone of his wingman reminded Diavel that he had dragged his loyal crews into his personal problem. Eighteen-hour sortie was too much, and if he kept them on duty, he would damage their respect toward him. They had enough.

"Return to base," he replied. "Report to General Krauser."

"Sir?" the wingman came back. "Are you not getting back with us?"

"That's a negatory," Diavel replied as he plotted a new set of Nav Points. He didn't want to go home just yet. "There's something I need to check."

"Let us come with you, Sir," the wingman insisted.

"You have done enough. Return to base. That's an order."

Reluctantly Diavel's wingmen broke formation, baffled, but still following orders without questions. Diavel turned the other way, farther into the desert, kissing the coast line, and climbed Mount Iselina to its apex. He had been all around Mount Iselina for dozens of time, but despite his repetitive findings that it was not a base camp of any large army, General Krauser still believed that the Guardian Force stationed there.

That brought another matter to his overloaded brain: why was Krauser so adamant that Mount Iselina was used as the Guardian Force base? He was never there, he relied on Diavel's unit to confirm his hypothesis, but he refused to accept Diavel's report. Diavel couldn't understand why Krauser sent him on a double-shifted recon job if he believed his intuition more than the facts.

He felt like he missed something out. _Did Krauser hide something?_

Diavel let his mind wandered aimlessly, allowing his _Salamander_ to glide over the vast desert of Delpoi Continent, far away from his own Nav Points. Next time he knew, he was flying toward the ruins of Cronos Fort. The legendary base was used as a Helic fire base against the Guylos Empire during the Chaotic Era. The cone-shaped base was tattered, a testament of the ferocity of the charges set up by Colonel Kruger. Only a large stump of landmass remained as a memento of the base. The rest were scattered as debris throughout the desert.

And then, his radar went haywire. Dozens of zoids heat signatures popped up in his screen, so dense they appeared as one big blob. His computer cycled through almost all zoids in rapid succession, from the small but gnarly _Maccurtis_ to the massive and indomitable _Gordos_, all cramped together at the base of what used to be Cronos Fort. And the fact that both Helic and Guylos designs came together in one place without shooting at each other told Diavel only one thing: he just found the Guardian Force main army.

"Santa Maria!" Diavel exclaimed, yanking his joystick backward to take some altitude. His _Salamander_ screeched and made a quarter loop backward, then climbed the sky, piercing the clouds, until he couldn't see anything but brown blotches on the ground. He watched his radar closely for flying zoids, but nothing went after him. The Guardian Force didn't seem to be aware of his presence.

"Thunder Two Alpha, this is Blue Streak," he called Helic HQ cautiously. The Guardian Force could intercept his signal and pinpoint his location, so he had to be really careful relaying information to the headquarters. "Thunder Two Alpha, come in!"

"Blue Streak, this is Thunder Two Alpha," Helic HQ replied. "You are deviating from your mission parameters. What seems to be the problem?"

"Thunder Two Alpha, put Ace of Spades online," Diavel said, using Krauser's callsign to confuse whoever was listening to his radio chatter.

"Ace of Spades is not available."

"Thunder Two Alpha, this is a priority-1 situation. Find Ace of Spades and put him online!" Diavel started to lose patience. This was the second time General Krauser wasn't available during a critical situation. In fact, his entire behavior alienated himself from the Helic Republic – Guardian Force conflict, something paradoxical to his own accusation of the President and the Senate. Whatever he was doing, his mind and his heart were not in this conflict. Or so Diavel thought.

"Patching through," the comm officer went offline, then the comlink burst into static before Krauser came alive at the end of the line.

"Blue Streak, this is Ace of Spades," Krauser said. "What is your sitrep?"

"Bingo, Easter Egg spotted, multiple hostiles within visual range! Track my signal for coordinate!"

"Stand by," Krauser barked orders to his tactical officers, then came back with a disappointed reply, "Cronos Fort?"

"Affirmative, Sir. I have not been spotted by the enemies."

"Bravo Zulu. Return to base."

Diavel throttled up his _Salamander_ to maximum speed and set the course back to New Helic City.

* * *

By this new data, somehow Diavel expected Krauser to give him a form of apology. Not a formal one, nor verbal obviousness, but maybe just a simple admittance that Diavel was right and he was wrong would do. Or perhaps just a sulk over weeks of wasted manpower.

Strangely, none of them transpired. Krauser conducted the all-hands briefing with ice-cold expression, as if his erroneous adamancy didn't bother him a bit. And that was an understatement, because Diavel knew how emotional Krauser could be. Ignominy this magnitude should've turned his world upside down. The fact that it didn't gave Diavel a new perspective for his boss, a disturbing vision that maybe Krauser knew more than he thought but deliberately kept everybody in the dark.

"Cronos Fort lied in the open field," Krauser said while walking around a holographic image of Cronos Fort. "There is no hiding place to conceal our movement within miles from the center. We will have to march through a flat terrain to reach Cronos Fort, and the Guardian Force will spot us long before we reach optimal weapon range. They will be prepared, and they will greet us with every gun in their arsenal. We will walk through hell before we can reach the fortress.

"However, there is no other way to get to them. This is the time we end this accursed war, and open field engagement is our only choice. I want every available unit to form a single file and march toward Cronos Fort. Make sure the Guardian Force does not have a hole to escape. I want every zoid of Guardian Force to be between your weapons and the fortress. I want them to fight with their backs against the wall while you drive the nails onto their coffins. I want every single one of them to burn!"

"It is easy to plan these things on paper, but bear in mind in reality things are more complicated than this," one of the colonels spoke up. Diavel remembered him as the rude colonel who questioned his integrity because of his closeness to Krauser. "The Guardian Force is an elite unit made up from both Helic and Guylos operatives. We may have numbers on our side, but they have quality and resourcefulness."

"I find your lack of confidence disturbing, Colonel!" Krauser barked, much to Diavel's delight. "You and your unit are no less capable than the Guardian Force! They are fighting with their back against Cronos Fort, which put them into even greater disadvantages! And how can you not consider yourself elite after months of fighting?"

"Everything will be much easier to digest if we have the _Gojulas Giga_ on our side," another colonel turned in. "But since we have been deprived from information as to where the _Gojulas Giga_ are, insecurity is bound to arise."

"Insecurity is exactly why I hold the _Gojulas Giga_ from second-rated military operatives like you!" Krauser snapped, turning the colonel's face into a beet-red heap of flesh. "_Gojulas Giga_ is not a toy. It is a great weapon only worthy of the best from the Helic Republic. You and your childish attitude are far below the glory of _Gojulas Giga_!"

"General, the President and the Senate released the _Gojulas Giga_ for all military personnel!" another one spoke out. "You don't have the authority to hold the _Gojulas Giga_ for yourself!"

"I will command the _Gojulas Giga_ army!" Krauser yelled, showing his true nature. "I and I alone! I will take my elite warriors, arm them with _Gojulas Giga_, and march toward Cronos Fort! You worms will back me up with what you have, and I don't give a damn what you have, because you cowards do not make a difference! Go ahead and run away for all I care! If you do, consider yourself court martialed, and when I finish with the Guardian Force, I will take my _Gojulas Giga_ army and hunt you down until none of you are left alive!"

Diavel knew Krauser had a bad temper, but calling his warriors 'cowards' and insulting them at the advent of a big operation wasn't exactly the quality of a good leader. Perhaps he was overconfident because he had the most powerful zoids in Helic arsenal, but still, the conflict wouldn't have been going this far without everybody's contribution. By calling them 'cowards' and dissing their contribution to the conflict, Krauser just destroyed the morale of his loyal troops.

But then, this was just another addition in the litany of Krauser's bad attitude since the conflict broke out. Diavel couldn't understand why Krauser was severing the loyalty of his own troops. He could not win the war without his troops, and it was not the size of a dog in a fight that mattered, it was the size of the fight in a dog. Troops without fighting morale were like a dog without fighting spirit. As a decorated war veteran, Krauser should've known this.

Diavel started to believe that he was missing something.

"Now dismiss and mobilize your units! We have a war to win!"

As the officers went out of the briefing room, Diavel approached Krauser. "Sir, it's not my place to argue with you at this time of day, but you just cut off yourself from the bulk of Helic army."

"We don't need them, Diavel," Krauser turned off the holograph projector. "You and me are everything we need to end this conflict."

"I still need to point out that they make up 75 percent of Helic military force."

"Yet we do 75 percent of the job well done. Cut your moan and start acting like the leader of Helic Air Division, Diavel. We are on the verge of victory, and you can't get your mind by with some second-rated personnel. We do this right and everything will be over."

As always, Krauser ignored Diavel's insight, but his last comment held the truth. The showdown with Guardian Force came first. Everything else would have to wait.

"Sir," he snapped a salute, then left the chamber.


	25. Chapter 24 - A Struck of Luck

**TWENTY FOUR**

**A STRUCK OF LUCK**

_**Elemia Desert, Europa Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**November 5, ZAC 2121**_

Saskia's quest for Hybrid Cannon at Delpoi met dead ends. Ones she could find were either subpar or owned by Fat Bob. So she would have to broaden her search to different continents, and she saw several zoids traders at Europa had surplus. The traders didn't actually mention that the cannons were on sale, but she thought she could talk them into it, or maybe selling them to her cheap. Besides, she felt it was time to move on with her life, and maybe - just maybe - Europa offer something for her future.

So she rode her _Demantis_ to Elemia Desert at the southern part of Europa. It looked much like the Central Continent desert: plain tan dunes with not much life barring a few oasis and wild zoids roaming free through the sand. The Western Continent War was more than 20 years ago, but Saskia could still sense the death and destruction inflicted upon the Helic Republic and Guylos Empire. Charred zoid parts littered the desert, but none of them were in any useable condition.

For once Saskia thought that she might make a fortune being a scavenger in Elemia Desert. True, it had been 20 years since the Western Continent War and hundreds of scavengers had mined Elemia Desert dry, but there was always something to find. But being a scavenger did not impress her in a long run. The money might be good but she felt like a bottom feeder, scavenging wastes from the battlefields. She wouldn't enjoy roaming the desert, digging the sand all day. She enjoyed being a zoid technician because the interaction with the zoids. It was not the first thing she wanted to do, but over time she learnt to live with it.

This kind of problem might not (and should not) be of her concern, but Saskia couldn't let it go until she arrived at a small town. It was a small mining settlement where people used zoids to dig minerals from the land. It was late, and the sun was winding down when Saskia arrived. But still, her presence drew suspicious looks from the settlers, so much that they started lining up their zoids in a militaristic defensive formation.

Not wanting to spook the settlers any more than this, Saskia parked his _Demantis_ and approached them on foot. A couple of armed men greeted her. Although they kept their guns sheathed, Saskia could see clearly the stocks of their automatic weapons under their arms. Saskia sensed an unspoken paranoia in their attitude. Seemed like they were terrorized by something. Desert thugs? Most likely. They were pests.

"State your name and intention, please!" one of the armed men said.

"My name is Saskia, I am a zoid trader. I am just looking for zoid parts."

"The trader had been acquiesced by the Guylos Empire. There's nothing you can find here."

"What? Why?" Saskia blurted. In her dictionary, the practice of acquisition was just a bit more than robbery. Basically they were the same, taking people's possession without consent, most often with guns on their heads. It was sad when certain people had guns, they immediately thought that they could do anything.

"Doesn't matter why," the other one said. "There's nothing you can find here. There was a Guylos outpost half a day from here. That's where they took all the conviscated zoid parts from here. If you want to find something, you can take it up to them."

It was not worth arguing over zoid parts with people that didn't want to help her in the first place, so Saskia turned her _Demantis_ away from the town. She shot for the Guylos outpost, but couldn't get over the thought about the town's paranoia. Having the zoid trader ransacked by the Guylos outpost might traumatize them but it shouldn't put them into a state of terror. Something told her that their paranoia had nothing to do with Guylos' acquisition of the zoid trader.

The journey through the desert was uneventful until Saskia arrived at a Guylos Outpost. It was an oasis with quite diverse vegetations. The Guylos Empire erected a firebase as an attempt to enforce dominance over the desert during the Western Continent War. When the war ended, most of Guylos Empire personnel returned to the Dark Continent Nyx, leaving the firebase behind. Twenty years passed and the firebase functioned as nothing more but an outpost.

The fact that the _Demantis_ was Guylos design didn't alert the Guylos personnel as Saskia approached the outpost. Even when the _Demantis_ got into the outpost's weapon range nobody bothered to check on her. Only after Saskia came within a quarter mile from the outpost did the Guylos personnel responded. And then, all hell broke loose.

"Halt! Who goes there?" somebody crackled on the comlink.

"My name is Saskia, I am a zoid trader," she replied with false identity.

"Go away! We don't deal with Republic scums!"

"Republic scum?" Saskia replied with a squint. "Why do you assume that I'm from Helic Republic?" Something told her that Helic Republic had a bad taste here in Europa.

"You don't look like locals. Are you saying you're not working for Helic Republic?"

"No! I am not working for anybody," Saskia tried one last effot. "I am just a wandering zoid trader. My allegiance is to money and good zoid parts. What does Helic Republic have to do with anything? Can anybody tell me what is going on?

There was silence, and when Saskia thought she would never get something out of this situation, the gate rumbled opened. Two _Zaber Fangs_ walked out of the outposts, pointing its guns at the _Demantis_. Saskia had seen the paranoia on the small town, but she never expected that the Guylos outpost would have an even worse case. She climbed down her zoid and waited until the pilots of the _Zaber Fangs_ met her.

"You are not from here, are you?" one of them spoke curtly.

"I have been everywhere," Saskia replied in a huff. "What is going on here? I don't understand this hostility."

"You've been everywhere? Then you've been to Delpoi, I presume?" the other _Zaber Fang_ pilot, much older and much calmer than the first one, explained. "What did you see there?"

"Armed conflict. Helic Republic is in a squabble with the Guardian Force over some new proposal for increasing soldier's wealth. The argument turned into violence."

"Soldier's wealth? Do you really think that's what the Republic want?" the pilot guffawed. "Only fools believe in General Krauser when he said he cared about soldier's prosperity! He didn't give a damn about soldiers, or anybody for that matter. No, he was planning something else. If a nation starts recruiting in large number, there's only one possibility..."

"Invasion!" Saskia almost yelped. She remembered this exact conversation when she was infiltrating Fat Bob's caravan. The thugs seemed to be talking nonsense at the time, but here in Europa, people believed it more than people at Delpoi. No wonder people at Europa was paranoid and jittery in the presence of a stranger.

"But why do you think General Krauser is invading Europa?"

"What do you think General Krauser is invading, lady? Nyx? Helic Republic tried that in 2050's, and they had their tails shoved up their butts by the _Gilvaders_. Eastern Continent? If the Republic invades Easten Continent, ZOITEC will cease to function, then the Republic will have to find somebody else to fill up their zoid ranks. The only logical possibility is Europa, because it's the perfect bridge to invade Nyx."

"But Helic did invade Europa, resulting in a war of attrition without clear victory. I don't think the President and the Senate will let General Krauser to take Helic Republic down that path again."

"That's when the Guardian Force comes into play," the older pilot lit a cigarette between his lips. "The Guardian Force is a mere distraction in Krauser's grand scheme. It will take everybody's focus from his real intention. Everybody will think that the Guardian Force is the imminent danger to Helic Republic, and the massive army Krauser is building will be used to win this conflict. When everybody realizes that's not the case, it'll be all too late. Krauser will be unstoppable by then."

"And you know this for a fact?" Saskia mused. Her skepticity still got the best of her.

The older pilot heaved a deep breath, then puffed a long stream of smoke from his mouth. "For untrained eyes like yours, it is all gibberish. But it doesn't take a complicated skill to see what's behind Helic Republic – Guardian Force conflict. I hope you're still around when it happens, because I'd love to see your face."

So invasion it was. That explained the paranoia. Citizen of Europa believed that once the conflict with the Guardian Force was over, Helic Republic would invade Europa, and Guylos Empire would not stand idle. The Empire would send its troops, and the Western Continent War would engulf Europa once again.

Still, Saskia found the old pilot's theory hard to believe. Unlike Guylos Empire, Helic Republic divided its power into several governing bodies, so no one had too much power to launch an invasion at his convenience. President Bonneville was a peace-loving individual, and the Senate would side with the president in preventing another war with the Empire. Krauser's plan to invade Europa was a long shot at best.

But Saskia couldn't ditch the fact that a number of people had similar opinion on the same matter.

"Anyway, tell us what specifically you're looking for, and if we have one, we'll make a deal with you," the older pilot said, now looking at Saskia like a veteran soldier looking at a fresh boot-camp graduate.

"Well, for a start, I'm looking for a Guylos Hybrid Cannon," Saskia tried this approach. "But I don't mind taking a look at your junkyard, in case I can find cheap bargains and throwaways."

"We don't have a Hybrid Cannon. But you can look at our junkyard if you want to get some junks.

Saskia reluctantly agreed and let the _Zaber Fang_ pilots escorted her to the junkyard. As its namesake, there was hardly anything she could use. Most of them were used up armor platings and weapons that no longer work. Saskia thought maybe she could fix one or two weapons and sell them, but their condition was so bad that she estimated the repair cost would exceed their retail prices.

But underneath a charred piece of armor there was soft warm glow. Curious, Saskia watched the _Zaber Fang_ pilots while she crouched near the light source. The pilots were chattering and smoking cigarettes, oblivious to what she was doing. Saskia turned the armor piece, and a soft warm glow caressed her face. They were rocks, blue rocks, with the size bigger than her forehand. They were warm like radioactive material, and Saskia was about to ditch them until she realized what they actually were.

The blue, glowing, warm rocks were Zoid Magnite, a substance that had been known to heal Organoid. Saskia had never dealt with Organoid before, so she didn't know how much Zoid Magnite would cost in free market. He had never seen anybody looking for Zoid Magnite, so she guessed that the rocks didn't have a lot of economical value. But Organoid could revive a dead zoid, even if its core was damaged beyond repair. Then, it struck her.

_Gilvader's_ core.

No record had been made about fixing a zoid core with Zoid Magnite. The only one Saskia knew was Zeke, Van Flyheight's Organoid, who was healed using Zoid Magnite. How about zoid? How about _her_ zoid? For all Saskia knew, the _Gilvader's_ core was badly damaged, and although it still supplied the zoid with life, her chance of fixing it conventionally was slim. What if the Zoid Magnite could actually heal zoid core? She didn't know. But no matter the chance was, she was willing to try, because it was her _only_ chance.

So she gathered all blue rocks and put them into a decent box she could find. Then she collected nuts and bolts and washers from the junkyard to cover the rocks. Then she dragged the box toward the _Zaber Fang_ pilots as if she wanted to report her findings.

"You're right, there's nothing I can find that worths fixing," Saskia said as she opened the box, showing off the filthy nuts and bolts. "Although I did collect some things that I could use. Do you mind?"

The pilots chuckled. "You bottom feeders never cease to amaze me."

"I take it as a no," Saskia fibbed a goofy smile. "How much do you want for these?"

"Take them. Take them and go back to where you belong, and never show your face again."

"I can guarantee that, although not in a long time," she nodded. "Thank you."

As the pilots continued to chuckle between themselves, Saskia dragged the box, strapped it to the _Demantis_, then zipped home. It was way past midnight, but she had no intention of stopping. She could rest after she put those rocks on the _Gilvader's_ core, whatever the result might be.


	26. Chapter 25 - Dragon Heart

**TWENTY FIVE**

**DRAGON HEART**

**Review Corner:**

**SulliMike23**_: what is Saskia's role in all of this? _Without a zoid, it's difficult to get involved in an armed conflict, and without Organoid, it's difficult to revive a 330-ton old relic. But I don't want Organoid. I don't want this story to be another Van Flyheight ripoff, where a teen befriends an Organoid, revives the most powerful zoid ever, and beats up the bad guys since Chapter 2. So what can a 18-year-old academy drop-out like Saskia do to get a zoid without Organoid (or some extreme luck like Bit Cloud)? She'll have to do it manually, painfully, one step after another, with blood, tears, and sweat. That's what you've been reading for 25 chapters, and that's what you'll read for a few more, before Saskia finally gets a role in the main conflict.

I know this story has been going sloooooooow, but that's the way I want it. True friendship doesn't build overnight. You have to invest a lot of time and energy in your friendship to make it last. And this story is, after all, about true friendship. I hope this explains everything.

* * *

_**Aspencade Fortress,  
**__**Helic Republic, Delpoi Continent,  
**__**Planet Zi,  
**__**November 7, ZAC 2121**_

Saskia understood the repercussion of waking up the _Gilvader_. The zoid had been dormant for 60-plus years. It might wake up looking for its master, and instead found somebody it didn't recognize. It might go into panic, throwing a destructive tantrum inside the cave. If the cave didn't crumble and bury everybody, people at Aspencade would see the thrashing zoid and instantly shoot it down. Or, it might see her as its enemy, and killed her instantly. There was no way to know what would happen. Each zoid was unique, and Saskia had never dealt with a _Gilvader_ before.

So she let the day exhausted itself until works at Aspencade Fortress ceased, and the darkness hid most of the entrance to the cave. The night was overcast, thus worked for her advantage. She waited until the lights from Aspencade dimmed to the point of non-existence, then proceeded to the depth of the cave for her ultimate quest.

The cave was dark, and the access door to the _Gilvader's_ core was located at the lower part of its torso, blocked by its own neck. The only way Saskia could reach it was to hoist the neck, but that part alone was as heavy as a _Command Wolf_. She needed an enormous amount of lift to reach the access door.

"Alright, Mantis, I will need everything you've got," she coaxed her _Demantis_ to take a stable stance at the base of the _Gilvader's_ neck. "I need to crawl underneath the big boy's body to put these rocks at his core. Can you lift his neck?"

The _Demantis_ emitted a hesitated purr. The lumbering hulk alone was enough to spook it to its core. It took several steps back as if the _Gilvader_ was ready to bite.

"Don't be afraid, he's not alive just yet," Saskia tried to encourage the one-armed zoid. "He will not do anything. All I need is half a minute under his neck and you can leave." She pushed the joystick forward, but the _Demantis_ resisted. "Trust me, he looks mean but he's not dangerous."

The _Demantis_ took a few steps forward then saw the teeth of the large zoid and froze. The memory of the _Gunbluster_ gave it a bitter taste of death, and the _Gilvader_ was almost three times the size of the _Gunbluster_. Saskia's urging wouldn't make it budge. It just stood in a distance, refusing to come any closer to the dormant zoid.

"Mantis, I can't do this alone," Saskia pleaded. "I can't access the _Gilvader's_ door without any help, and you are the only one that's strong enough to do it. Please, give me a little hand. I promise, this is the last time I ask anything from you. You're free after this one."

Slowly, one hesitated step after another, the _Demantis_ tiptoed forward, flashing its jets in a paranoid fashion. But after minutes of no action from the big zoid, the _Demantis_ started to believe Saskia. It advanced more confidently with each step, gaining cockiness and trust from its pilot. When it made contact with the _Gilvader_, it even grazed and pinched the big zoid, noting confidently that the _Gilvader_ didn't do anything.

"Good boy," Saskia kept giving it support. "Now try to give me some room to the access door at the lower torso."

The _Demantis_ tried to lift the _Gilvader's_ neck, but with just one arm it was impossible to do. The neck wouldn't even move an inch. The small infantry zoid added its jets to play, trying to move the monster, but it was clear that they would need a different approach.

"Let's push it!" Saskia commanded. The _Demantis_ changed strategy; using its shoulder it pushed the neck as hard as it could. The massive neck was still too heavy, but it started to shift. The _Demantis_ added some boost by blasting its jet. The neck started to rock back and forth.

"Keep it up!" Saskia said and exited the _Demantis_. She dragged a decent-sized rock and pried the neck up so it wouldn't fall back. The _Demantis_ released its pressure, and the _Gilvader's_ neck stayed on its place. There was a gap at the base of the neck, but it was still too narrow. Saskia could slide inside the gap and touched the core's access door but that was as far as she could go. She needed more leverage.

"Push his head as far as you can," Saskia said. The _Demantis_ shifted to the head section and did as instructed. Its feet sunk deep into the water, and its rear abdomen flickered with light. With a loud rumble the _Gilvader's_ neck started to curve to the right. The access door was still mostly blocked, but Saskia gained some extra room to slide down deeper into the gap and open the door.

"That's it! Keep it like that for one minute!" she yelled, then opened her box. The warm glowing Zoid Magnite pieces was in contrast with the furious fire from the _Demantis'_ jet. She threw everything inside the access door, then locked it and climbed outside the gap as fast as she could.

"Let it go!"

Her heart stopped as she held her breath, waiting for the Zoid Magnite to take effect. It didn't seem to do anything for quite a while. The _Gilvader_ was still a lumbering giant that was nothing but a shadow of its former self some 60 years ago. And after several minutes with no action, Saskia started to believe that her wishful thinking would just be wishful thinking, and her hope trip would end here.

And then, things changed.

The black zoid moved, slowly at first but with increasing, terrifying rate. Its spiky legs pushed its body up above the water level, and for the first time Saskia had to tilt her head to look at its head. The neck and wings stretched so wide and so tall its Maser horns and wing tips grazed the inside of the cave interior, crushing stalactites. It realized it was confined in some sort of a dome, and panic seeped in. With a loud roar the _Gilvader_ turned around but the cave was not large enough. Its tail blades hammered the ledge, and rocks crumbled into the water.

"Oh my…." Saskia felt her heart jumped into her throat.

The _Demantis_ emitted a horrified chitter, and the _Gilvader_ caught it. Its Maser horns glowed in purple hue. The _Demantis_ blasted its jet, but before it could escape, the _Gilvader's_ quartet plasma cannons zapped, spitting superheated gas at the hapless _Demantis_. The infantry zoid exploded in an orange fireball, and the burning remains crumbled to the cave floor. The _Gilvader_ raised one of its legs and crushed what was left of the one-armed _Demantis_ under its foot.

"Oh No!" Saskia yelped. She felt terrible for the _Demantis_, a simple zoid that had been loyal to her since their escape from the _Gunbluster_ death grip. It did not deserve to meet a gory end like that. But she was powerless to do anything. The _Gilvader_ was on a self-destructive rampage and everything in its path would have to perish. She was sure she would meet the same fate as the _Demantis_.

The _Gilvader_ spotted her, and it trained all weapons at her. The mega zoid hunkered down to aim its 10 Needle Guns and 4 Plasma Cannons at her. Its Maser horn burnt in radiant purple, and its mouth opened wide, showing off a train of hardened-alloy teeth that could break even the strongest armor on any living zoid in Zi.

But it stopped, seeing that Saskia was just a mere human, and wondering if she was its pilot. The zoid watched her closely, but kept its weapons trained at her, ready to kill her whenever it decided that she posed some threat to its existence.

Saskia kept her stance straight, although it was not an easy thing to keep composed in front of the berserk killing machine. Sweat beaded in her forehead, and her knees wobbled. Her spine felt like mush. But her experience with the _Demantis_ taught her that one thing zoids value most from humans was confidence. The _Demantis_ was just a small, simple zoid that took anything she threw at it as confidence. The _Gilvader_ was a massively complex biomachine. It would need every bit of her confidence to tame the big zoid, and then, it might never be enough. But she had no other choice.

"I know you're scared," she said with trembling voice. "But I am not your enemy. I am your friend. Lower down your weapons and let's talk about this slowly."

The _Gilvader_ answered with an ear-splitting roar, then turned its guns at the cave. The plasma bolts ripped the cave wall and the needle guns turned the dimly-lit cave into a battlefield. Fireballs erupted at every corner of the cave. And as if it was not enough, the _Gilvader_ tried to claw itself out of the cave. Four massive hardened-alloy claws tore the cave apart, and the ceiling started to came down. Rocks rained down on the thrashing dragon, burying half of its body. But it only made the _Gilvader_ even madder.

"STOP! STOP! You're going to make both of us killed!" Saskia screamed from the top of her lung, aware of the fact that she wouldn't make a difference against the explosions and crumbling rocks and the panic roars of the _Gilvader_. But she underestimated the _Gilvader's_ sensitive sensors. The metal dragon turned around, shouting some angry roars at her, then stopped moving.

"I do not know what happened to you," Saskia tried to reason with the _Gilvader_. "I found you here, and looks like you have been here for a long time. I found your pilot dead in your cockpit. Whatever you were going through by the time you were knocked out had long been over. You are waking up in a different era, with different zoids, and different conflict. I understand that you are anxious to get out, but we are in Helic Republic territory, and there is a large Helic military base near this place. If you go out alone, Helic zoids will hunt you down and kill you. Can you understand this concept?"

It was hard to see if the _Gilvader_ actually understood human language, but it talked back with a series of low grunts and growls.

"Let me drive you."

The _Gilvader_ burst into a loud roar of defiance that almost ruptured Saskia's eardrums. The idea of piloting the large zoid seemed to aggravate it more. It started thrashing again, but then realized that any movement less than subtlety would collapse the cave and bury everybody. So it mellowed out, but not before letting Saskia know that she was not to come near it.

"You probably miss your pilot but he's dead. I am the only one who knows your existence. I am familiar with your stats and your capability. I know how to turn you back into a machine you were once, if you just let me sit in your cockpit and take control. How about giving us a chance? I promise I will do your old pilot justice."

But the large zoid pulled away from Saskia and turned its head around, refusing to make contact with her any further. It broke her heart that, after everything she had done, the zoid didn't accept her the way she anticipated. But the _Gilvader_ might not be fully aware of the situation and still thought it was living in the pre-cataclysm period, and the fact that its pilot had perished for 60+ years and it had been lying commatosed ever since. She had to make it understand….

… though communicating with zoids had been her bane since she learnt to pilot one.


End file.
